India’s Reserve Bank of India (RBI) requires regulated lenders to report covered app-based credit to credit bureaus, so some buy now, pay later purchases can enter borrowers’ repayment histories.
Issued May 8, 2025, the Digital Lending Directions apply to commercial banks, primary (urban), state and central cooperative banks, non-banking financial companies (NBFCs), including housing finance companies, and all-India financial institutions. Those lenders must send loan details to credit information companies when credit is arranged through an app they own or one operated by a lending service provider. The obligation applies across loan types and repayment periods.
The directions also cover digital lending offered through merchant platforms when it is structured as short-term secured or unsecured credit, or as deferred payment. The regulated lender is responsible for reporting that credit and must ensure any lending service provider associated with a deferred-payment product follows the RBI’s outsourcing guidelines.
TransUnion CIBIL says a BNPL account may appear under the name of the bank or NBFC that provides the credit, rather than the retailer. Its guidance says both on-time and late repayments are recorded. A report’s account section can show the lender, facility type, loan amount, current balance and month-by-month payment record. CIBIL identifies payment history as a main factor in its score and says delayed or missed payments may hurt it.
For covered digital loans, the regulated entity must ensure digitally signed documents reach the borrower automatically by registered, verified email or SMS when the loan contract or transaction is executed. The documents include a Key Fact Statement, a summary of the loan product, a sanction letter and the terms and conditions.
The RBI said the directions consolidate earlier instructions. Its preamble cites concerns including mis-selling, data privacy breaches, unfair business conduct, high interest charges and unethical recovery practices. The reporting requirement applies to covered regulated digital lending; it does not establish that every product marketed as BNPL will appear on every credit report.
