If you can't repay
Missing a repayment feels catastrophic. It isn't — but the next 7 days of decisions matter. Here's the playbook.
Before the due date (best case)
- Call the lender first. Ask for: a short extension, a revised schedule, or part-payment. Lenders restructure more often than people think — a bounce costs them too.
- Don't let e-NACH bounce silently. A bounce adds your bank's return charge (₹200–750) + the lender's bounce charge + a DPD mark on your bureau.
- Never borrow from a second app to pay the first. That's the stacking spiral — read how to escape it before it starts.
If it has already bounced
- Get the exact overdue breakup in writing (principal / interest / penal charges). Penal charges must be a reasonable, disclosed amount under RBI rules — not compounding penalty interest.
- Agree a written plan. Pay something on-schedule even if small; it demonstrates intent.
Your rights while overdue (RBI rules)
- Recovery agents may not call before 8am or after 7pm, may not abuse or threaten, and may not contact your phone contacts. Harassment → full escalation guide: lender's grievance officer → RBI Ombudsman (cms.rbi.org.in) → Sachet → cybercrime 1930.
- Settlement is possible on genuine hardship. It will be reported as "settled" on your bureau — worse than "closed", better than an endless overdue.
What NOT to do
- Don't pay any "agent" who promises to erase bureau records — that's always fraud
- Don't ignore lender calls; silence converts a solvable problem into a legal one
- Don't hand over your net-banking or UPI PIN to anyone "helping" you