Credit bureaus will now have to be more accountable. Customers of registered credit bureaus can file complaints directly with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) for faster resolution of their credit scores and related complaints. 

Credit bureaus will be included under the RBI’s integrated ombudsman scheme. It will provide a redress mechanism to customers of the Credit  Information Companies (CICs), more commonly known as credit bureaus.

There are currently four CICs in India - Equifax, Experian, TransUnion CIBIL and CRIF Highmark.

The CICs collate data of the customers from banks, credit card companies and other financial institutions. On the basis of the data collected, they offer a credit score, which indicates a good or a bad borrower. If there is an incorrect credit score and is not corrected within 30 days, the borrower can now approach the RBI and lodge a complaint against the CIC.

The RBI set up the integrated ombudsman scheme to allow consumers to file their grievances against registered entities for deficiency in their services if such complaints are not addressed satisfactorily or in a timely manner by the REs (Regulated Entities).

The scheme covers scheduled commercial banks, including urban cooperative banks, non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) and non-scheduled primary co-operative banks with a deposit size of Rs 50 crore and above.

“In order to make the RB-IOS (Reserve Bank-Integrated Ombudsman Scheme) more broad-based, it has been decided to bring CICs also under the ambit of RB-IOS 2021. This will provide a cost-free alternate redress mechanism to customers of REs for grievances against CICs. Further, with a view to strengthen the internal grievance redress of the CICs and to make it more efficient, it has also been decided to bring the CICs under the Internal Ombudsman (IO) framework,” according to the Statement on Developmental and Regulatory Policies,

Experian India country manager Neeraj Dhawan believes this will improve the credit ecosystem in the country. “It is a positive step that will help consumers resolve their concerns to gain timely access to credit and be in control of their finances," he said.