How to resolve Credit Report Errors

CIBIL members such as banks and financial institutions enjoy and seek access to credit reports. However, there is a principle of reciprocity at work in that only banks which provide data to CIBIL are allowed access to credit reports. Credit reports can help banks decide on approving or rejecting loans and thereby, help build responsible credit behaviour. Banks cannot disclose the credit report of any individual to any entity.

Individuals can access their credit reports. According to section 21 of the CIRCA Act 2005, äny person who applies for grant or sanction of credit facility, from any credit institution, may request such institution to furnish him a copy of the credit information, obtained by such institution from the credit information company." The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has prescribed a fee of Rs.50 for the purpose as per the Credit Information Companies Regulations 2006 Act.

Errors Found in Credit Reports and How to Resolve Them

The credit information report consists of five sections - personal information, contact information, employment information, account information and enquiry information.

The following are some of the errors you may find in your CIBIL report and how you can resolve them

• Errors in Account and Personal Details - Once a month, you should review your CIBIL report for any typographical or clerical problems pertaining to your name, residence, age, date of birth, and PAN Card information. Another frequent mistake that harms the credit score is having multiple accounts in the applicant's name.
• Days Past Dues (DPD) - Days Past Due, or DPD, refers to how many days have passed since an account's due payment was supposed to have been made in a particular month. If your DPD shows anything other than "000" or "XXX," it signifies you have missed a payment or payments, which lenders can read unfavourably. If you have been paying on time and discover inaccuracies in your DPD, you should have them fixed right away because failing to do so could result in the loan being rejected.
• How to resolve it - The greatest strategy to prevent the DPD labelled other than 000 or XXX is to pay your debts on time. While one late payment would only have a little or negligible influence on your CIBIL score, repeated late payments will have a negative impact.
• Outstanding Loans or Incorrect Balance - To accurately grasp the credit facilities that have been made available, the actual amount due and the outstanding balance must match. Since it is used to determine credit scores, information on unpaid loans should be accurate. To prevent a drop in the CIBIL score or the rejection of the loan application, any of these mistakes should be reported right away. 
• How to resolve it - Check your credit report and raise a dispute with CIBIL by submitting the dispute form.
• Errors in Credit Accounts - There could be loans or credit card accounts that have already been closed (i.e., fully paid off) but haven't been reported to CIBIL by the lending company. There may be ownership mistakes with some of the open accounts included in your CIBIL report that are truly not yours. These might represent fraudulent use or the outcome of administrative mistakes. Incorrectly labelling an account as "written off" or "settled" can also have a detrimental effect on your credit score and how lenders perceive you.How to resolve it - If a closed account is still listed as open, you must get in touch with the loan company and confirm it. If your loan file hasn't been closed yet, you must give them all the information they require right away in order to get a NOC (No Objection Certificate). You can file a complaint with CIBIL by filling out the CIBIL dispute resolution form if there is an improper mention of open accounts that are not yours or if an account is incorrectly labelled.
• Even for Paid-off Accounts, CIBIL Report Indicates Overdue - Even if you have made all of your previous repayments on time, your CIBIL report may still reflect an outstanding balance that has already been paid in full or payment history defaults. 
• How to resolve it - Every 30 to 45 days, lenders send information to CIBIL, and if you obtain your CIBIL report within 45 days of paying off your debt or closing your accounts, CIBIL records may not have been updated.If it has been longer than two months since the lender last submitted the information related to that account, you can get in touch with them and ask them to update the information on their records as well as provide the current information to CIBIL so that it can be updated on the report.When it comes to examining the accuracy of the credit information provided by lenders, CIBIL is not responsible. By using CIBIL's dispute resolution process, you can submit inaccuracies or inconsistencies, and your claim will be investigated and, if necessary, amended on the report.

Errors in Cibil Reports

While the aforementioned inaccuracies can be corrected, the following fields cannot be disputed in your credit report:

1. Member Name (except ownership dispute)
2. Control Number
3. Account Number (except ownership dispute)
4. Enquiry Date
5. Date Reported

Company Credit Information Reports

CIBIL also produces the Company Credit Information Report (CCR). It comprises details of the company. Any errors in the company credit information report can be corrected or updated. Concerns, if any, can be redressed courtesy the process of Company Dispute Resolution. The following are the different kinds of disputes which can ensue in a company credit report.

1. Account details: Any inaccuracies with respect to details such as name, address, phone number, asset classification and so forth regarding a company can be rectified.
2. Ownership of account: If an account in your company's credit report does not belong to you, you can raise a dispute in addition to cases wherein the entire report is inaccurate.
3. Duplicate Account:A dispute can be raised if one account is duplicated in the company credit information report.

Fields which can be disputed are listed below:

• Company's name and address
• Branch address
• Telephone numbers
• PAN (Company)
• Proprietor/ Partner name
• Relationship
• Legal constitution
• City, State and PIN Code

Account Details:

• Bank remark
• Credit type
• Date classified as wilful defaulter
• Asset classification
• Sanction date
• Current balance
• Sanctioned amount
• Suit filed status
• Date of suit
• Suit amount
• Status

DUNS Number and Report Order Number

1. DUNS Number: It is a unique identification number given to borrowers at a location.
2. Report Order Number: It is an order number given to the company credit report by CIBIL.

How to file a CIBIL dispute request?

Customers have to fill out an online dispute form freely available at the official CIBIL website. Customers need to have a control number for the purpose. The control number, a nine digit number found on the top right of credit information report, is created once a CIR is generated. It plays an important role in that CIBIL can identify the credit report (about which the customer has raised a dispute) with the help of the control number.

Following submission of the online dispute form, CIBIL will verify all the details with the concerned banks. Customers will get an email notification regarding status of the request (dispute). If the dispute is resolved, customers will get an updated report. Customers can initiate a second time, if they are not satisfied with the result of the first dispute request. CIBIL will then re-verify details with the credit institution. Customers can also write directly to Credit Information Bureau (India) Ltd, Hoechst House, 6th Floor, 193, Backbay Reclamation, Nariman Point, Mumbai 400 021.

Resolution

CIBIL is not authorized to make any changes to the Credit Information Report (CIR). All disputes are sent to a credit institution, which ascertains if the dispute is legitimate. The changes have to be authenticated by the concerned credit institution, following which, the credit report can be updated. Customer is updated after the dispute is resolved. CIBIL takes a total of 30 days to resolve any dispute depending upon the time taken by the credit institution to revert to it with the relevant information. Typically, CIBIL takes seven days to update the data after it receives information from the credit institution. According to experts, customers would do well to apply for a new credit information report after errors have been rectified by CIBIL.

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