Recovery agents harassing you? What's allowed and how to stop it

1Your rights

• No harassment of any kind. Under RBI's rules on recovery agents (August 2022), lenders and their agents must not use intimidation or harassment, verbal or physical, including:
  • acts meant to humiliate you publicly, or intruding on the privacy of your family, references or friends;
  • inappropriate messages by phone or on social media;
  • threatening or anonymous calls;
  • calling persistently, or calling before 8 am or after 7 pm about overdue loans;
  • false or misleading statements (for example, claiming you'll be arrested for a missed EMI).
• Know who's contacting you. Lenders should tell you the details of the recovery agency handling your account, and an agent who visits should carry a copy of the lender's notice, its authorisation letter and an identity card. You can ask to see them.
• Complaints first. Under RBI's guidelines, a lender should not pass your case to a recovery agency while your complaint about it is still pending, unless the complaint is frivolous.
• Loan apps: under RBI's digital lending rules (2025), lending apps must not access your contact list, photos and files, or call logs, and the lender must tell you the recovery agent's details by SMS or email before the agent contacts you.
• The lender is responsible for what its agents do, and RBI can act against lenders over abusive recovery.

2What your lender can say no to

• Remind you and ask for payment: by calls, messages, letters or visits, between 8 am and 7 pm, in a polite way.
• Use a recovery agency, as long as it follows the rules and you're told who it is.
• Take legal steps: charge late-payment fees as disclosed, report the overdue loan to credit bureaus, and start legal recovery, including SARFAESI action on a secured loan (see SARFAESI notice: your deadlines).
• Contact a guarantor, who is liable for the loan (see guarantor being asked to pay).
• A missed EMI is a civil matter. It doesn't make you a criminal, though bounced cheques and fraud are treated differently in law.

3Before you write

1. Keep a log of every incident: date, time, phone number, the caller's or agent's name, and what was said. Save screenshots of messages and call logs. Add each one to the case file in step 7.
2. Ask any visitor for ID, the lender's authorisation letter and the notice. Note the agency's name. Don't hand over cash without an official receipt; pay the lender directly through its own channels.
3. Check the lender is real. If the loan came through an app, check the lender named in your loan agreement or Key Fact Statement. Illegal lending apps aren't regulated by RBI; report them on RBI's Sachet portal.
4. Stay in touch about repayment. Harassment is wrong whatever you owe, but replying in writing and proposing what you can pay keeps the account from getting worse. See EMI too high? How to ask for relief.
5. If you're threatened with violence, or your photos or contacts are misused online, report it to the police, or online at cybercrime.gov.in (national cybercrime helpline: 1930). Don't wait for the lender to reply.

4Create your letter

Fill in your details to get a ready letter, quoting the relevant rules, that you can send to your lender.

5Send it so you have proof

The letter itself isn't proof. What the RBI Ombudsman, a consumer forum or a court will want to see is proof that the lender received it, and that depends on how you send it:

• Hand it in at the branch, with a second copy

  Very strong

  The lender's "received" stamp, signature and date on your copy (use the acknowledgement box on the printed letter)

• Registered Post or Speed Post

  Very strong

  The postal receipt, and the delivery record from India Post tracking

• Email to the lender's official grievance address

  Strong

  Your sent email with date and time, the lender's auto-reply, and any complaint ticket number. Keep the original emails, not just screenshots.

• The lender's online complaint form or app

  Strong

  The complaint reference number and confirmation. Save the confirmation page, email or SMS.

• Phone call, or speaking at the branch

  Weak

  Usually nothing you can show later. Always follow up in writing.

Keep everything together: your letter, proof of sending, the lender's replies and your loan documents. LoanReveal doesn't keep copies of your letters, so we can't confirm what you sent; the lender's stamp, the postal record or the lender's reference number is your proof. For court proceedings, electronic records such as emails may need extra formalities: ask a lawyer.

6If it isn't resolved: escalate

Write to the lender's grievance officer with the details (the letter above). If the harassment doesn't stop or you don't get a satisfactory reply within 30 days, complain to the RBI Ombudsman, attaching your log, screenshots and letter. Abusive recovery by a regulated lender is the kind of service complaint the Ombudsman takes up.

Coming from 1 January 2027: RBI has issued stricter recovery rules that start on that date. Among them, lenders must tell you the recovery agency's details at least a day before its first visit, and recovery contact is limited to the borrower and guarantor, not relatives, neighbours or colleagues. We'll update this page when they take effect.

1. Write to the lender (steps 4 and 5). If there's no reply, or you're not satisfied, write to its Principal Nodal Officer, whose details are on its website.
2. After 30 days without a satisfactory reply, file a free complaint with the RBI Ombudsman at cms.rbi.org.in, attaching your letter, the lender's reply (if any) and your loan documents.

7Keep a case file

Record every step: when you wrote, how it was delivered, reference numbers and replies. Download it as a dated PDF timeline with a checklist of documents to attach, ready for the RBI Ombudsman, a consumer forum or a lawyer.

Frequently asked questions