How to read a credit information report

You have applied for a two-wheeler loan and the bank you went to rejected your application, citing non-repayment of credit card dues. But you are sure you do not have any unpaid dues left. It is your word against the banks. What can you do in such a case? You can write to a credit bureau and ask for a copy of your Credit Information Report (CIR).

There are three credit bureaus in India and you can ask for credit information from any of them. The information with all of them is the same, since they all get data from the same banks and lenders. The charge is between Rs 130 and Rs 160.

The report will have details of your previous loans and what is the status of the loan — whether the repayment is on schedule or if there have been defaults. It is possible you had defaulted on an earlier loan but had subsequently paid up. However, this has not been updated in the bank’s records, due to which your CIR is showing you as a defaulter.

If that is the case, you should write to your bank and tell them to update the report.

The things to verify in the CIR:

• Your personal details such as name, date of birth, postal address, contact numbers, details of identity proof and address proof such as PAN card, passport, voters ID, or ration card. It is important to verify this because if you have changed your address and it is not updated, you should do it immediately. (This appears on the left part of the report) 
   
• Verify if the loan mentioned in the CIR is the right one, that is, housing loan, credit card, auto loan and so on. The CIR will show all the loans you have taken. So, you also need to verify if the number of loans shown in your report is correct. (This appears in the centre of the report) 
   
• Verify details of the loan such as the loan status, loan amount, balance amount, overdue amount, EMI amount, loan open date, loan close date, last payment date. If there is any discrepancy in this, that is, if it shows an overdue when you have paid all dues, immediately inform your bank. (This appears on the right part of the report) 
   
• Verify the repayment history or schedule of payments or DPP (Date Past Due). If it shows “0”, it means all dues are paid on time. If it shows 120, 90 it means that the payment has been overdue for so many days. In some cases it may show paid on time for most months, with overdues for some months in between. In case your banks takes a stringent view of this overdue, it can reject your loan application. In some cases, it may show as “S” or “B”. This is “standard asset” if the payment is on time or “bad asset” if the payment is delayed, from the bank’s point-of-view. (This appears on the right side below the details of the loan amount and date of loan).

If you find any discrepancy in any of these details, you have to inform your bank accordingly and ensure they update their records. With more and more banks relying on data from credit bureaus to ascertain the creditworthiness of borrowers, it is important for your CIR to reflect the current and correct information.

A single CIR can carry details of different kinds of loans. So, check the DPP for each loan for any discrepancy.

This will also give you an idea of how the bank views your creditworthiness.

If you have made any enquiry about any loan, that will also be reflected in your CIR. You can check if these enquiries are genuine ones or fraudulent ones, made by someone using your identity. In today’s age of identity theft, this can be important.

You have to remember that in the bank’s record the enquiry may reflect one or two days after you have made the enquiry and may not be on the same day. So, if the enquiry shown against your name is approximately around the same time as you have, then it is a genuine record.