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This guide is what we wish someone had told us. No fear-mongering, no gimmicks. Just what happens, in order, with the laws that actually apply.
Quick answer
If you miss a loan-app EMI: (1) Days 1–7: automated reminders and late fees. (2) Days 8–30: phone calls and warnings, your CIBIL takes a hit. (3) Days 30–90: aggressive recovery agents may start contacting you (and sometimes your contacts — which is illegal under RBI rules). (4) After 90 days: the loan is classified as NPA, and if the lender is a regulated NBFC, they may pursue civil recovery. They cannot send police, file an FIR, or arrest you for non-payment of an unsecured loan. Many threats from unregulated apps are illegal — and you have the right to file a complaint.
First, know who you owe
The single most important thing to do right now is figure out whether your loan-app lender is regulated by the RBI or not. The rules that apply to you depend entirely on this.
If your lender is an RBI-registered NBFC or bank
The lender must follow the RBI Digital Lending Guidelines 2022 and the Fair Practices Code. You have specific, enforceable rights. Most large loan apps in India — Navi, MoneyView, KreditBee, LoanTap, MoneyTap, Fibe, CASHe — fall in this category. You can check any app's status against the RBI's published list of NBFCs, or use our verified Loan App Reviews directory.
If your lender is NOT regulated (predatory / illegal app)
Most of the apps that get banned by MeitY every few months fall in this bucket. They operate from outside India, change names frequently, and use abusive tactics. The good news: their threats are largely empty. They cannot legally enforce the loan in Indian courts because the lender itself is operating illegally. The bad news: they will try to make your life miserable through harassment until they're stopped. We'll cover what to do later in this article.
How to check
Open the loan app. Go to About or Terms. Look for the name of the lending entity (NBFC) and its RBI registration number. If you can't find these, the app is almost certainly not regulated. You can also search for the app on Sahisujhav's Loan App Reviews — we maintain a verified list of RBI status for 30+ apps.
What happens in the first 30 days after you miss an EMI
Days 1–7: Automated reminders + late fees
Within hours of a missed EMI, you'll start getting automated SMS and app notifications. By day 3–5, a recovery agent (often a polite outsourced call-centre person) will call. They'll ask why you missed, when you can pay, and offer a one-week extension. This stage is fine. Take the call, be honest, and ask for the late-fee structure in writing.
Late fees vary wildly: ₹100 to ₹1,000+ per missed EMI for regulated apps. Unregulated apps sometimes charge daily late fees that exceed the original loan in a month — which is one of the markers of a predatory lender. The RBI's Digital Lending Guidelines require all charges to be disclosed in the Key Fact Statement (KFS) upfront. If they're charging fees not in your KFS, they're violating RBI rules.
Days 8–30: CIBIL impact begins
After ~30 days past due, the lender reports the missed payment to CIBIL and the other bureaus. Expect a 30–80 point drop on your score. This stays visible on your report for up to 7 years, although the impact fades sharply after the loan is settled.
The harsh truth about empty threats
Most threats from loan apps — especially those involving FIR, arrest warrant, lookout circular, criminal case — are completely fabricated to scare you into paying. They have no legal teeth. The threat is the recovery tactic.
Days 30–60: Recovery calls escalate
This is when things can get uncomfortable, especially with unregulated apps. Expected behaviour from a regulated lender under the RBI Fair Practices Code:
- Multiple daily calls (no more than 4–5 in a day)
- Calls only between 8 AM and 7 PM
- Communication only with you, the borrower
- No threats, no abuse, no public shaming
- Written notice if the loan is being referred to recovery
Anything beyond this is harassment. We'll get into your rights below.
What happens after 90 days (NPA stage)
After 90 days of non-payment, your loan is classified as a Non-Performing Asset (NPA) on the lender's books. This triggers a few things:
- Your loan may be assigned to a specialised recovery agency or sold to an asset-reconstruction company (ARC)
- The lender may issue a legal demand notice
- For larger loans (₹1 lakh+), the lender may file a civil recovery suit in a Debt Recovery Tribunal or civil court
- For very small loans (under ₹25,000), legal action is usually not cost-effective — they'll write off the loan or keep trying to recover informally
Here's what does NOT happen, regardless of how often the threatening messages claim it:
- Police cannot arrest you for non-payment of an unsecured personal loan. Loan default is a civil matter, not a criminal one.
- An FIR cannot be filed against you for missing EMIs alone. (FIRs require an alleged crime — fraud, cheating, etc. — and missed EMIs aren't that.)
- They cannot seize your possessions without a court order.
What counts as harassment (and is illegal)
These tactics are explicit violations of the RBI Fair Practices Code, the IT Act, and/or the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS):
- Calling your family, employer, or contacts to shame or threaten you
- Calling outside 8 AM – 7 PM, or more than 4–5 times a day
- Abusive language, casteist or sexual slurs
- Creating WhatsApp groups with your contacts to publicly shame you
- Morphing your photos with inappropriate images and threatening to share them
- Impersonating police, court officials, or government employees
- Sending fake legal notices (a real notice comes by post, not WhatsApp)
- Visiting your home or workplace without prior written notice
- Demanding amounts not disclosed in your original Key Fact Statement
All of the above are illegal — even if you genuinely owe the money. The legality of the debt does not give the lender the right to harass you.
How to stop the harassment (step-by-step)
If you're being harassed, here's the playbook. Work through it in order.
Step 1: Document everything (today, within the hour)
Screenshot every threatening message. Record (with your phone's call recorder, where legal) every abusive call. Note the date, time, and phone number for each contact. Create a folder on your phone: loan-app-evidence-[app-name]-[date].
Step 2: Use Sahisujhav's Harassment Checker
Our free, anonymous Harassment Checker analyses your evidence against the RBI Fair Practices Code, BNS, and the IT Act. It tells you which specific laws are being violated and drafts a complaint template you can file.
Step 3: Block UPI auto-debit mandates
Open your UPI app (PhonePe, Google Pay, Paytm) → Autopay / Mandates → revoke any mandate linked to the lender. This stops them silently pulling from your account on the due date.
Step 4: File a Sachet complaint (regulated lenders)
If the lender is RBI-registered, file at sachet.rbi.org.in. Our step-by-step Sachet complaint guide walks you through it in under 10 minutes.
Step 5: File a cybercrime complaint (criminal-grade threats)
For morphed photos, threats of violence, impersonation, or contact-list shaming, file at cybercrime.gov.in. Attach the evidence folder from Step 1.
Should you actually pay?
If the lender is regulated and the loan is legitimate
Pay. Either in full, or negotiate. Defaulting on a regulated loan has real long-term consequences for your CIBIL — and your CIBIL affects every future loan, credit card, even some job applications (banking sector). It's almost always cheaper in the long run to pay or settle.
If you genuinely cannot pay the full amount, contact the lender and request a settlement. Most regulated lenders will accept 30–60% of the outstanding amount as one-time settlement (OTS) — but be aware this gets reported to CIBIL as Settled, which is its own 7-year mark. Read our guide on settlement vs full payment.
If the lender is unregulated / predatory
The calculus changes. Many unregulated apps charge effective APRs of 100–500%+ — which means you may have already paid back more than the principal. Their threats have no legal weight. Their CIBIL reporting (if they report at all) is often disputed and can be removed.
If you've already repaid more than the principal, you owe nothing legally — they have no claim. Use Sahisujhav's EMI Truth Calculator to compute exactly what you've paid versus what's legally enforceable.
CIBIL outcomes by scenario
| What happened | CIBIL mark | How long it hurts |
|---|---|---|
| Paid the loan in full eventually | Late marks for 3 years, score drop ~50–80 points | Visible negative impact for 3 years |
| Settled for less than full (OTS) | "Settled" tag for 7 years | Visible negative impact for 5–7 years |
| Defaulted, written off by lender | "Written off" tag for 7 years | Visible negative impact for 5–7 years |
| Disputed entry corrected via CIBIL dispute | Removed from report | 30–90 days for correction |
Hinglish: Loan App ka EMI miss ho gaya — ab kya hoga?
Agar tumhara loan app EMI miss ho gaya hai aur tumhe Hindi mein samjhna hai — yeh hai short version:
- Pehle 7 din: Reminder messages aur late fee. Don't panic.
- Pehle 30 din: CIBIL pe asar shuru. Score 30–80 points gir sakta hai.
- Pehle 90 din: Recovery agent calls. Agar regulated NBFC hai, RBI rules follow karenge. Agar unregulated app hai, harassment ho sakti hai.
- 90 din ke baad: NPA classification. Bade loans ke liye civil suit possible, chote loans ke liye usually write-off.
- Police arrest nahi kar sakti unsecured loan default ke liye. FIR file nahi ho sakti EMI miss karne par. Yeh sab threats fake hote hain.
Harassment ho rahi hai? Sahisujhav ke Harassment Checker pe jao — free hai, anonymous hai, complaint draft ho jaata hai 30 seconds mein.
Frequently asked questions
Can a loan app file an FIR against me for not paying?
No. An FIR requires an alleged crime. Missing loan EMIs is a civil contract breach, not a crime. They can file a civil recovery suit, but not an FIR. Threats of FIR for non-payment are intimidation, which is itself a violation of the RBI Fair Practices Code.
Will the police come to my house?
No. The police have no role in unsecured personal-loan recovery. If someone claiming to be police calls or visits you about a loan-app EMI, they are almost certainly a recovery agent impersonating police — which is a criminal offence. Report it on cybercrime.gov.in.
Can they contact my family and friends?
No. The RBI Digital Lending Guidelines and Fair Practices Code prohibit lenders from contacting anyone other than the borrower regarding the loan. Contacting your phonebook is explicitly banned — and is one of the most common grounds for a successful Sachet complaint.
What if I genuinely can't pay anything right now?
Talk to the lender (if regulated). Ask for a moratorium, restructuring, or a deferred-payment plan. Most NBFCs have hardship policies. Get any agreement in writing. If they refuse and start harassing, escalate via Sachet.
Does paying off the loan remove it from my CIBIL?
No, but it changes how it's reported. The account will show as Closed with the late-payment history visible for up to 7 years. The negative impact fades meaningfully after 12–24 months of clean repayment behaviour on other credit.
How do I rebuild my CIBIL after defaulting?
Pay off any outstanding amounts, then maintain perfect payment history on all other credit (credit cards, other loans) for 9–12 months. Keep credit utilisation below 30%. Don't apply for new credit during recovery. Our CIBIL Recovery toolkit gives you a full personalised plan.
What to do right now
If you're reading this in panic mode, here's your immediate playbook:
- Stop replying to threatening messages. Document them instead. Screenshots, dates, times.
- Block UPI auto-debit mandates so the app cannot pull from your account.
- Check whether your lender is RBI-registered using our /apps directory.
- Use the EMI Truth Calculator to see what you've actually paid vs. what's legally owed.
- If facing harassment, use the Harassment Checker — it takes 2 minutes.
- If the harassment is severe, file complaints at sachet.rbi.org.in (for regulated lenders) and cybercrime.gov.in (for criminal-grade threats).
- If you genuinely owe a regulated lender, contact them and negotiate. Most will accept a settlement.
You're not powerless. The law is on your side more than the threatening messages want you to believe. Take it one step at a time.