Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Deputy Governor Swaminathan J on Tuesday expressed concern at the rise in customer complaints related to credit information at a meeting with the chiefs of credit information companies (CICs).

Swaminathan also said some concerns have emerged during the Reserve Bank’s supervisory assessment.

According to experts, most of the complaints against CICs relate to the non-updation of customer data pertaining to the regularisation of a missed loan installment. This leads to a lowering of a customer’s credit score, which has implications for taking fresh loans.

There are four CICs in India: Credit Information Bureau (India) Limited, Equifax Credit Information Services Private Limited, Experian Credit Information Company of India Private Limited, and CRIF High Mark Credit Information Services Private Limited.

Key areas to focus

While acknowledging the vital role played by CICs in the financial system, the Deputy Governor highlighted six key areas for the CICs to focus on, including the need to improve data quality, timely redressal of customer complaints, and strengthening of the internal ombudsman framework.

He also called for streamlining the process for handling data correction requests; strengthening cybersecurity and data privacy through a robust information security governance framework; and addressing concerns arising out of the usage of data for consulting, analytics, etc.

The meeting, which was also attended by the Executive Directors and other senior officials of the Department of Supervision and the Department of Regulation,. also comes in the backdrop of the RBI issuing a circular in October 2023 on strengthening customer service rendered by credit information companies and credit institutions.

The CICs shared their feedback and highlighted the initiatives that are being taken to colloborate with the credit institutions (CIs) to enhance data quality.

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