If you read nothing else
- The lender is responsible for its agents. Complain to the bank or NBFC, not to the agency.
- 8am to 7pm. A call at 9pm is a breach on its own, whatever was said in it.
- They cannot discuss your debt with anyone else — not your employer, neighbours or extended family.
- Ask for a name and the lender they act for. Refusal is itself reportable.
- Write down date, time and number every single time. A dated log is what makes a complaint actionable.
Who These Rules Bind
Banks and NBFCs are regulated by the RBI and are bound by its Fair Practices Code. When they outsource recovery, they remain answerable for what the agency does. That is the single most useful fact on this page: the agent's conduct is the lender's problem, and the lender has a regulator.
It is why complaining to the agency achieves little and complaining to the bank achieves a great deal. The agency has one customer, and it is not you.
Allowed and Not Allowed, in Detail
| Area | Permitted | Not permitted |
|---|---|---|
| Timing | Contact between 8am and 7pm | Calls or visits outside those hours |
| Identity | Giving a name and naming the lender | Anonymous calls; refusing to say who sent them |
| Language | Firm, factual requests to pay | Abuse, obscenity, humiliation, threats of harm |
| Third parties | Contacting you | Discussing the debt with employer, colleagues, neighbours |
| Location | An address you have given the lender | Your workplace to embarrass you; entering by force |
| Claims made | Accurate statements of what is owed | Threats of arrest or fabricated criminal cases |
| Frequency | Reasonable contact | Repeated calling designed to harass |
The threat that is used most is the one with least behind it
"We will file a criminal case" is the standard line, and for an ordinary unpaid loan there is no criminal case to file — debt is civil. The response that ends it is calm and specific: ask for the section of law, the police station, and the FIR number. Nobody who was bluffing produces those. The exception is a dishonoured cheque, where Section 138 proceedings are genuinely available, so know which kind of loan you have before you push back.
If Someone Is at Your Door or on the Phone Now
- Ask for their name, the agency, and the lender they act for. Write it down while they answer.
- Note the time. If it is before 8am or after 7pm, that alone is a breach, and say so.
- Do not argue about the debt. Whether you owe it is a separate question from how they may behave.
- Do not pay cash to anyone at your door. Pay the lender through its own channels and keep the receipt.
- Say you will deal with the lender directly, and end the conversation. You are not obliged to continue it.
- Record if you can, and keep any messages. In most Indian states you may record a call you are party to.
If there is a threat of violence, or people will not leave, that is a police matter and not a lending matter. Call 112.
Keep a Log. It Is What Makes a Complaint Work.
The difference between a complaint that is closed and one that is acted on is specificity.
| Weak | Strong |
|---|---|
| "They keep harassing me" | "On 14 Aug at 9:40pm, from 98XXXXXXXX, a caller giving the name Rakesh said he would come to my office and tell my manager." |
| "They were rude" | "On 16 Aug at 8:15am the same number used abusive language; recording attached." |
| "They called my brother" | "On 17 Aug the agency called my brother on 99XXXXXXXX and told him the amount outstanding on my loan." |
Each row on the right names a date, a time, a number and a specific rule broken. That is a compliance issue with a paper trail. The left column is a feeling, and feelings get closed as "resolved after discussion with customer".
How to Complain, in Order
- Write to the lender's grievance officer. Email, not a phone call. Attach your log. Ask for a written response.
- Keep the acknowledgement. You will need it at the next stage.
- Wait 30 days. That is the period the lender has to respond.
- Escalate to the RBI Ombudsman if there is no reply or the reply is unsatisfactory. It is free and it is online.
Skipping straight to the Ombudsman is the commonest reason complaints are rejected — the scheme requires you to have approached the lender first. The full process, including what to put in the email, is on the complaints page.
One line changes most calls
"I am recording this call, I have noted the time, and I will be sending this to your bank's grievance officer and to the RBI Ombudsman." Said calmly, it very often ends the behaviour on the spot — not because it is a clever threat, but because the agent is now a compliance risk to the agency that employs him, and agencies lose contracts over exactly this.
Loan Apps Are a Different Problem
Everything above assumes a regulated lender. Many app-based lenders are not, or sit behind a regulated entity in ways that are hard to see, and some behave in ways no bank would attempt — messaging your contacts, using your photos, creating groups about you.
If there is a regulated bank or NBFC behind the app, this same complaint route works. If there is not, the RBI route may not reach them and the police and cyber crime channels become the relevant ones. Telling the two apart is covered on the loan app harassment page.
Myths and Facts
| Commonly believed | Actually |
|---|---|
| Agents can seize household goods | No. Nothing can be taken without a court decree, or a security interest over that specific asset. |
| They can come any time if you avoid them | No. The 8am–7pm restriction does not lapse because you did not answer. |
| Telling your family is allowed since they should know | No. Your debt is between you and the lender. |
| Complaining will make the lender harsher | The opposite, generally. A documented complaint moves the file to compliance. |
| Nothing happens after you complain | The Ombudsman scheme is free, real, and decides against lenders regularly. |
Please note
This page summarises the RBI's fair practices expectations on recovery as they stood when it was written, in general terms. Regulatory wording changes and individual circumstances differ. Nothing here is legal advice. Recording laws and their evidentiary weight vary — take advice if a recording will matter to a case. If you are threatened, or anyone refuses to leave your property, treat it as a police matter first. Money Bharti is a loan marketplace, not a lender, and does not carry out recovery.
Questions This Page Gets Asked
What time can recovery agents call?
Between 8am and 7pm. Calls or visits outside those hours breach the Fair Practices Code, and a single one is worth logging and reporting on its own.
Can a recovery agent come to my office?
They may visit an address you have given the lender. What they may not do is discuss your debt with your employer or colleagues, or use the workplace to embarrass you into paying.
Can they call my family and friends?
They may attempt to reach you through a contact you provided as a reference. They may not disclose your debt, the amount, or that you are in default to anybody other than you.
They threatened to have me arrested. Is that possible?
Not for an unpaid loan — debt is civil. Ask for the section, the police station and the FIR number. The only genuine criminal exposure comes from a dishonoured cheque under Section 138.
Can I record the calls?
In most Indian states you may record a conversation you are a party to. Recordings are useful evidence in a grievance or Ombudsman complaint. If it is going to matter in court, take legal advice on admissibility.
Who do I complain to first, the agency or the bank?
The bank or NBFC. It is responsible for the conduct of agencies acting on its behalf, and unlike the agency it answers to the RBI.
Will complaining stop the recovery calls?
It does not cancel the debt, and legitimate contact may continue. What usually stops is the conduct — once a documented complaint exists, the file becomes a compliance matter and the tone changes.
What if the agent will not say who they are?
That is itself a breach. Note the number and the time, and report it to the lender. An agent who cannot be identified cannot be verified as acting for anyone at all.
Conclusion
Almost all recovery pressure in India works on the assumption that the borrower does not know the rules. Once you know them, the balance shifts, because everything on the wrong side of that line is a compliance failure the lender has to answer for — and lenders answer to a regulator in a way that agencies do not.
So the practical work is dull and effective. Note the date, the time, the number and the name, every time. Do not argue about the debt on the doorstep; whether you owe it is a separate question from how they may behave. Complain to the lender in writing, keep the acknowledgement, and escalate after thirty days if the reply does not come or does not satisfy you.
And if the underlying problem is that the EMIs genuinely cannot be met, the calls are a symptom. What to do about the cause is on the page for the week before the due date.
If the real problem is too many EMIs
Where several expensive loans are the cause, merging them into one lowers the monthly outgo. Checking what you would be offered is a soft enquiry and leaves no mark.
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All rates, fees and eligibility figures on this page are indicative market ranges for illustration and are not an offer. Approval, pricing and the sanctioned amount rest entirely with the bank or NBFC. Money Bharti is a loan marketplace, not a lender. Assess your repayment capacity honestly and read the sanction letter in full before signing. This content is general information, not financial advice.