How to generate and read a borrower's credit report: the individual (consumer) report with the CIBIL score, and the commercial Company Credit Report with the CIBIL MSME Rank (CMR). Includes red flags, the current RBI rules and a free file-note generator for the loan file.
India has four Credit Information Companies (CICs) licensed by RBI under the Credit Information Companies (Regulation) Act, 2005 (CICRA): TransUnion CIBIL, Experian, Equifax and CRIF High Mark. Every bank must be a member of all four and report its borrowers' data to each of them. "CIBIL report" is used loosely for any bureau report, but the steps below apply to all four bureaus.
There are two kinds of report, and most business loans need both:
The screens differ from bank to bank. Some banks pull reports from inside the Loan Origination System (LOS); others use the bureau's member portal with user IDs issued by the credit department. The steps are the same everywhere:
| Section | What it shows | What to check |
|---|---|---|
| Score | CIBIL score 300โ900, or NA/NH for no history | Against your bank's cut-off for the product |
| Personal & contact information | Name variations, date of birth, PAN and other IDs, addresses, phones, email | Matches the application and KYC; no unexplained IDs |
| Employment information | Occupation and income as reported by lenders | Consistent with what the customer declared |
| Account information | Every loan and card: type, ownership, lender, date opened, sanctioned amount, current balance, amount overdue, up to 36 months of payment history, status | Overdues, DPD, written-off/settled status, loans not disclosed, guarantor liabilities |
| Enquiry information | Who pulled the report, when, for what purpose and amount | Many recent enquiries suggest the customer is applying everywhere |
| Code | Meaning |
|---|---|
000 or STD | Paid on time / standard account |
001โ089 | Number of days past due (DPD) in that month |
090+ | 90 or more days past due: an NPA-level delay |
SMA | Special Mention Account: early signs of stress |
SUB / DBT / LSS | Substandard / Doubtful / Loss: NPA classifications |
XXX | Not reported by the lender for that month |
| Score | Band | Typical reading |
|---|---|---|
| 750 โ 900 | Strong | Consistently good repayment; usually eligible for the best terms |
| 700 โ 749 | Good | Generally acceptable; check details |
| 650 โ 699 | Fair | Look closely at DPD, utilisation and enquiries |
| 550 โ 649 | Weak | Past delays likely; needs strong mitigants |
| 300 โ 549 | Poor | Serious defaults likely; high risk |
| NA / NH (or โ1) | No history | No or too old credit history. Assess on income, banking and other data |
| 1 โ 5 | New to credit | Risk index for borrowers with under 6 months' history: 1 = highest risk, 5 = lowest |
These bands are a common industry reading, not RBI rules. Your bank's credit policy cut-offs always prevail.
The lender took a loss. "Settled" means less than the full amount was paid.
Legal action for recovery, or the borrower is classified as a wilful defaulter.
NPA-level delay in any account in the last 36 months.
Repeated delays in the last 12 months, even if now regular.
Accounts on the report that the customer left out of the application.
Different dates of birth, PANs or names: possible impersonation or fraud.
Many enquiries from different lenders in a short time.
The customer is guarantor for an account that is overdue or NPA.
Pull a commercial report for every non-individual borrower or guarantor: companies, LLPs, partnership firms, proprietorship concerns, trusts and societies, and for corporate guarantors.
For borrowers with aggregate exposure of โน5 crore and above, also check RBI's CRILC database as your bank's process requires. It shows exposure and SMA/NPA status across all banks.
The CIBIL MSME Rank (CMR) is a rank from CMR-1 to CMR-10 given to businesses based on their credit history and credit use. It estimates the chance that the business becomes an NPA in the next 12 months. CMR-1 is the lowest risk; CMR-10 the highest.
| Rank | Band | Typical reading |
|---|---|---|
| CMR-1 to CMR-3 | Low risk | Good repayment record; candidates for faster processing and better pricing |
| CMR-4 to CMR-6 | Moderate risk | Acceptable with closer review of overdues and utilisation |
| CMR-7 to CMR-10 | High risk | Stress or defaults likely; needs strong justification and mitigants |
| Not available | No rank | Too little credit history, or the entity is outside CMR coverage. Rely on other appraisal data |
| Section | What it shows | What to check |
|---|---|---|
| Report header & enquiry information | Report date, reference number and the details you searched with | You searched the right entity |
| Borrower profile | Name, constitution, PAN/CIN, addresses, industry, current delinquency status | Matches your records |
| CIBIL Rank (CMR) | CMR-1 to CMR-10, or not available | Against your bank's policy for the product |
| Credit profile summary | Total facilities and outstanding as borrower and as guarantor, with your bank and other lenders; overdue amounts | Exposure with other banks matches the borrower's disclosure; contingent liabilities as guarantor |
| Credit facility details | Lender-wise facilities: type, sanctioned amount, outstanding, overdue, asset classification and DPD history | SMA/NPA classification elsewhere, persistent overdues, facilities not disclosed |
| Enquiry summary | Enquiries by other lenders and their timing | A spike in enquiries shows the borrower is approaching many lenders |
| Derogatory information | Wilful default, suit filed, written-off amounts, invoked guarantees and devolved LCs | Any entry here needs a full explanation and usually higher-level approval |
Enter what the report shows and tick any red flags. You'll get a reading of the score or CMR and a one-page note (Word or PDF) for the loan file. Everything stays in your browser. Nothing is sent to or saved by AskBanker.in.
The reading updates as you type.
A general reading only. Your bank's credit policy, cut-offs and sanctioning authority decide.
RBI consolidated its instructions in the Master Direction โ Reserve Bank of India (Credit Information Reporting) Directions, 2025 (6 January 2025). The points that matter most at the branch:
| Rule | What it means for you |
|---|---|
| Membership of all four CICs | Your bank reports every borrower's data to all four bureaus, so a default with any bank shows up everywhere. |
| Fortnightly reporting (from 1 January 2025) | Banks report data as on the 15th and the last day of each month, within 7 days. Reports are much fresher than before, but a repayment made last week may still not show. |
| Alert to the customer | The bureau sends the customer an SMS or email when a lender pulls their report. |
| Compensation for unresolved complaints | If a customer's complaint about wrong data isn't resolved within 30 calendar days, โน100 per day is payable. Respond to bureau dispute requests quickly. |
| Free annual report | Individuals can get one free full credit report, with score, from each bureau every year. Point customers to it when they question their data. |
| No minimum score fixed by RBI | Cut-offs come from your bank's policy. First-time borrowers should not be rejected only because they have no credit history (Finance Ministry clarification, August 2025). |
| Reasons for rejection | Under the Fair Practices Code, tell the applicant in writing the main reasons for rejecting a loan, including when the credit report is the reason. |
Read the official text on RBI's website and follow your bank's circulars for internal procedure.
Each lender pull is recorded as an enquiry. One enquiry for a genuine application has little effect, but many enquiries in a short time can lower the score and make the customer look credit-hungry. That's why you should reuse a recent report instead of pulling again.
RBI does not fix a validity period. Your bank's loan policy sets it. Regenerate the report if the one on file is older than your policy allows, or before sanction if anything has changed.
The customer can raise a dispute directly with the bureau online. The bureau sends it to the lender that reported the data, which must check and correct it. If the data is from your bank, help resolve it quickly, because compensation applies after 30 days.
Yes. A proprietorship concern's business borrowings can appear in a commercial report, while the proprietor's personal loans appear in their consumer report. Pull both.
No. CMR shows credit behaviour, not repayment capacity. You still need financial analysis, cash-flow assessment, security and all the usual checks. See our Credit Appraisal Tools.
Yes. Businesses can buy their own CIBIL Rank and Company Credit Report from TransUnion CIBIL's website, and similar products from the other bureaus.
Next steps for a company borrower: ROC search & charge creation (CHG-1) • UDIN verification • Banker's Lobby. Questions? Ask in our Discussion forum.