Your credit report has four blocks: identity, accounts, enquiries and a summary. Only the account block moves your score much. Read that one line by line and skim the rest.
You are entitled to one full credit report free from each bureau every calendar year. The RBI required bureaus to provide it through a clear link on their own websites, in a circular dated 26 October 2023.
What are the sections of a credit report?
| Section | What it holds | What a lender reads | What you should check |
|---|---|---|---|
| Personal information | Name, date of birth, PAN, Aadhaar reference, addresses, employment | Used to match you to the file | A wrong PAN or a stray address can merge someone else’s loans into your report |
| Account information | Every loan and card, sanctioned amount, balance, and a month-by-month payment history | Almost everything | Days past due markers, closed accounts still showing open, and wrong balances |
| Enquiry information | Each time a lender pulled your report, with date, purpose and amount | How hard you have been shopping for credit | Enquiries you did not authorise |
| Account summary | Totals: number of accounts, overdue amount, oldest account | A quick sanity check | Whether the totals match the detail above them |
All four bureaus in India use different layouts and different names for the same thing. The content is the same because the reporting format is regulated.
How do you read the payment history grid?
This is the row of month codes against each account. It is the heart of the report. Each cell covers one month.
A number is days past due. So 30 means you were 30 days late that month. Zero, or the letters STD, means you paid on time. The higher the number, the worse the month.
Letters matter more than numbers. SUB, DBT and LSS mean substandard, doubtful and loss. Those are asset classifications, and they are severe. WO means written off. SET means settled.
XXX or a blank means the lender did not report that month. It is not a good mark and not a bad one. It is missing data.
The letters that end a loan are the ones that follow you. A settled or written-off marker stays on the file for years and is read as a default, not a closure. Our page on credit scores after settlement explains why closing a loan properly is worth the extra money.
What does NA or NH mean on a credit report?
It means the bureau has no history to score. NA is not applicable. NH is no history. New borrowers get this, and so do people who have used only cash for years.
Lenders treat it as an unknown rather than a negative. Some will lend anyway on income. Many will not. The fix is to build a thin file deliberately, which we cover in building credit from scratch and what NH and NA mean.
Why do enquiries appear when you did not apply?
Because a hard enquiry is logged whenever a lender pulls your file for a credit decision. That includes an application you abandoned halfway. It also includes some pre-approved offer checks.
A soft enquiry, such as checking your own score, is not shown to lenders and does not affect the score. The difference is set out on our hard versus soft enquiry page.
If you see an enquiry from a lender you have never dealt with, treat it as possible fraud. Raise a dispute the same day.
What can you do when the report is wrong?
Dispute it, and know the clock. The RBI set a compensation framework on 26 October 2023, effective from 26 April 2024. Under it, the credit institution gets 21 calendar days and the bureau gets 9, for a combined 30.
If your complaint is still unresolved after 30 calendar days, you are entitled to ₹100 for every further calendar day. The money must be credited to your bank account within five working days of resolution.
That is a real, enforceable entitlement and almost nobody claims it. File the dispute in writing, keep the reference number, and count the days. The step-by-step route is on our credit report dispute page.
The same October 2023 circular also requires bureaus to alert you by SMS or email when your report is accessed, and when a default is reported against you. Turn those alerts on. They are the cheapest fraud detection you will get.
Frequently asked questions
How do I get my credit report free?
Each of the four bureaus must give you one full credit report free every calendar year, through a link on its own website. That is an RBI requirement from the 26 October 2023 circular on customer service by credit information companies. See free credit score for the routes.
How often is a credit report updated?
Lenders report periodically, not instantly, and the bureau then has to ingest the file. The RBI requires bureaus to load data received from lenders within seven calendar days. So a payment you made today can take weeks to appear.
What is a good score on the report?
Most Indian bureau scales run from 300 to 900. Lenders generally reserve their best pricing for scores in the top band. We explain how lenders band applicants on what counts as a good credit score.
Does checking my own credit report lower my score?
No. That is a soft enquiry. It is recorded for your own reference and is not shown to lenders as an application. Only hard enquiries, made by a lender assessing you, count.
Why do my four credit reports show different scores?
Because each bureau holds a different set of lender submissions and uses its own model. A lender may report to three bureaus and not the fourth. Compare the account detail rather than the headline number, and see credit bureaus compared.
Sources
- Reserve Bank of India, Strengthening of customer service rendered by Credit Information Companies and Credit Institutions, RBI/2023-24/73, 26 October 2023. rbi.org.in
- Reserve Bank of India, Framework for compensation to customers for delayed updation or rectification of credit information, RBI/2023-24/72, 26 October 2023, effective 26 April 2024. rbi.org.in
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