Telcos dial credit bureau to fix clients' bill limit

Credit Information Bureau Limited (Cibil), which has the credit history of about 220 million people, now has an unlikely customer. Telecom operators are queuing outside its office to take a peek into its database.

Harshala Chandorkar, senior vice-president for consumer relations at Cibil, told Business Standard: “Telecom companies are accessing the credit history for fixing the credit limit of their post-paid customers. In terms of percentage, the number of post-paid subscribers in the country may be limited. But in terms of absolute number, the figure is huge. Hence, telecom operators are using our services to fix the credit limit of their customers.”

Mobile phone operators are using this service on a pilot basis. The companies are using the credit history data in select telecom circles to see if it works out for them.

Cibil officials said while a few operators have already tied-up with the bureau, some more have expressed interest and expected to join soon. They refused to share further details about their telecom clients.

Telecom companies, however, do not share their client-specific data with Cibil. Banks, on the other hand, offer Cibil details on sanctioned loans and repayment history of their borrowers.

Cibil officials said according to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India mandate, mobile phone operators cannot share client data. The credit bureau is in talks with the telecom regulator to change this rule.

Bankers and Cibil officials claimed the richness of credit bureau data has allowed lenders cut delinquencies in their loan portfolios, especially in the credit card segment, as they now source clients based on their credit score.

“There is a increased reliance on (credit) bureau data while issuing new cards, limiting the scope of delinquencies,” Kadambi Narahari, chief executive of SBI Cards, said.

A similar view was expressed by other bankers. “Whenever a borrower comes to us for a loan, we check his credit score. If it is above 600, then his application is considered positively. If the score is below 600, we take a more conservative approach,” said Ram Sangapure, general manager for retail banking at Central Bank of India.

Cibil gives credit scores on a scale of 300-900, with 900 being the highest credit worthiness of a borrower.