India’s non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) are transitioning to a weekly credit reporting system, marking a significant shift in how lending data is shared with credit bureaus. The move is expected to improve transparency, strengthen risk monitoring, and enable quicker updates in borrower credit profiles.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has stepped up scrutiny of cases where lenders have extended fresh loans to borrowers with existing overdues. Following these strict rules, non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) are moving toward weekly credit bureau reporting, according to industry executives.
Credit bureau reporting, which previously had a lag of over a month, has already moved to fortnightly updates. Several lenders are voluntarily shifting to weekly reporting.
Experts believe that the regulator’s focus is aimed at preventing practices such as loan evergreening, where fresh credit may be extended to temporarily regularise stressed accounts.
Lenders said faster reporting cycles would reduce information gaps that earlier allowed borrowers with recent payment delays to obtain credit from multiple lenders.
“RBI cannot stop lenders from disbursing loans in such cases, but it wants NBFCs to have a proper board policy explaining why a loan is given to a borrower who already has an overdue with another lender,” said a chief financial officer of an NBFC.
Industry executives said lenders typically avoid borrowers whose accounts have already slipped into default. “By definition, if it is a 90-plus day past due account, nobody funds and nobody wants to fund,” said the chief risk officer of a mid-sized non-bank lender.
Lenders may still evaluate cases where payment delays are relatively small. In some instances, borrowers with 30–50 day overdues are expected to be considered for credit depending on the reason for the delay. Borrowers facing genuine financial stress typically begin defaulting across multiple loans, making it difficult to mask repayment problems for long.
Data from CRIF High Mark shows that as of November 2025, NBFCs had a portfolio at risk (PAR) of 3.7% in the 31–180 day bucket, compared with 2.6% for public sector banks and 1.7% for private banks.
More frequent updates mean credit profiles reflect borrower behavior faster. A borrower who repays on time will see that reflected within days, not weeks. Similarly, early signs of stress surface sooner. This benefits both lenders and borrowers. Fraud detection becomes more effective when anomalies are flagged quickly.
“Stricter policies and faster reporting are expected to improve credit discipline and could help NBFCs gradually lower credit costs by limiting exposure to borrowers showing early signs of stress,” an industry expert said.