Fix a wrong loan-app entry on a credit report

Written and verified by the Grahak Mitra research team — an independent project documenting digital consumer self-help in India.

Last updated: 3 October 2026

If a loan app reported a loan or default to the credit bureaus that is wrong, disputed, or never yours — and it is dragging down your credit score — you can dispute it. You raise the correction two ways in parallel: through the credit bureau's official dispute process, and with the lender that reported the entry. The bureau and the lender have 30 days to sort out your request under the RBI's rules, and if they do not, you can complain to the RBI Ombudsman.

A wrong entry on a credit report is fixable through a defined process — this page walks it in order. It does not require paying anyone, and you do it directly with the bureau, the lender, and, if needed, the RBI.

What the rules require

If your credit information is wrong, you can ask the credit bureau, the lender, or both to correct it, and the RBI's rules give them 30 days from your request to resolve it. The bureau changes an entry only after the lender confirms the correction, so the lender has 21 of those days to send the corrected details and the bureau has the rest. If either rejects your request, it must tell you why. Your request is not acted on while a court, tribunal or arbitrator is already deciding a dispute about that entry.

Compensation for a slow correction

The RBI's directions entitle you to ₹100 for each calendar day your complaint stays unresolved after 30 calendar days from the day you first filed it with the lender or the bureau. The lender and the bureau share the amount according to which of them caused the delay, and it is to reach your bank account within five working days of the complaint being resolved, so give your bank account or UPI ID on the complaint form. It does not apply to a complaint about how a credit score is calculated, or one already decided or pending before a consumer commission, court or tribunal. If the compensation is wrongly refused, you can complain to the RBI Ombudsman.

How to dispute a credit-report entry — in order

1. Get your credit report and find the exact entry. You are entitled to check your own credit report. Get a copy from the credit bureau — every bureau provides your report, and you request it on the bureau's own official site — and pin down the specific wrong entry: which lender, which loan, which amount or "default", and the date. Note the details exactly; your dispute names this entry.
2. Raise a dispute through the credit bureau's official dispute process. Every credit bureau runs an official dispute process — find it on the bureau's own site — where you flag the entry as incorrect and submit your explanation and evidence. This is the standard route to get an entry investigated and, if it is wrong, corrected.
3. Raise it with the lender too. In parallel, complain to the lender that reported the entry, in writing, through its grievance channel — the lender is the one that sent the data to the bureau, so its correction is what ultimately updates the report. Describe the entry, say why it is wrong or disputed, and attach your evidence. Ask for an acknowledgement or complaint number and note the date: the 30 days run from it.
4. Keep every record. Save your dispute reference numbers, dates, the report copy showing the wrong entry, and every acknowledgement. A dispute is only as strong as what you can show, and the records are what you escalate with.
5. Complain to the RBI Ombudsman if it is not resolved. If the bureau or the lender does not fix the entry, or you are not satisfied with its reply, you can file a complaint with the RBI Integrated Ombudsman (cms.rbi.org.in). Credit bureaus come under the scheme; a lender does only if it is a bank or an NBFC of the kind the scheme lists, and the RBI says complaints about other lenders may go to its Consumer Education and Protection Cell instead. The scheme does not take grievances that have a remedy under section 18 of the Credit Information Companies (Regulation) Act, 2005 — disputes that law sends to conciliation or arbitration — and the RBI's texts do not say whether a disputed entry is one, so the Ombudsman may decline your complaint. Say plainly what you asked for and when, with your records. You must have complained to your lender first. If it has not replied within 30 days (or a longer time that RBI rules set), or its reply does not satisfy you, you can file with the Ombudsman. File within 90 days of that waiting period ending or of the lender's last reply, whichever is later. If the app itself was an illegal or abusive lender, also report it to RBI Sachet (sachet.rbi.org.in).

Where to raise what

What a dispute can, and cannot, do

Be realistic about the outcome: correcting a credit-report entry is a process with a timeline set by the framework, not a guaranteed instant removal — and a genuinely-owed debt will not simply vanish because you dispute it. What the framework does guarantee you is the right to have a wrong or disputed entry investigated and corrected if it is indeed wrong. So a real, outstanding loan you took stays on the report; but a mistaken entry, a loan that was never yours, or an entry from an illegal app can be disputed and, on a correct finding, fixed. Keep your records, follow the steps, and give the process the time the framework allows. If the lender or bureau takes longer than 30 days to resolve your complaint, you can claim the compensation above.

Two more things worth knowing

If the app that put the entry there is also harassing you over the debt, remember the conduct limits: a lender or its agents cannot threaten you or shame your contacts — see the recovery-agent rules and how to complain. And to work out whether the lender was ever legitimate in the first place, see how to check if a loan app is legal.