Loan Harassment Complaint — Recovery Agents, Loan Apps & RBI Sachet

How to file a Lender grievance → RBI Sachet → Cyber Crime portal / Consumer Commission complaint

1. 1

   Send a written grievance to the lender first

   Email the lender's / NBFC's grievance officer stating the harassment, the loan account number, and that contact before 8:00 am or after 7:00 pm, and contacting your relatives or contacts, violates RBI's recovery-agent circular of 12 August 2022 and the Fair Practices Code. Demand it stop and ask for a complaint reference number — that reference is what you escalate with.

2. 2

   Recovery agent harassment complaint letter format — what to include

   A complaint letter that works names six things: your loan account / app name and the regulated lender behind it; the exact dates and times of each call or message (this is what proves the 8:00 am – 7:00 pm breach); who else was contacted — family, referees, colleagues; what data was taken from your phone; the specific conduct (threats, public shaming, morphed images); and the relief you want, in writing. Attach screenshots and a call log. Nyaykar assembles all of it in the correct format in 60 seconds — you do not have to draft it yourself.

3. 3

   RBI Sachet complaint: how to file on the portal against the lender

   Lodge the complaint on RBI's Sachet portal (sachet.rbi.org.in), which exists to report unauthorised lending and unlawful collection activity. Keep the lender's grievance reference and your evidence to hand — Sachet asks what the entity did and when. If the lender is an RBI-regulated bank or NBFC and it has not resolved your grievance in 30 days, the RBI Banking Ombudsman under RB-IOS 2026 is the next step (cms.rbi.org.in). File it within 90 days of that 30-day period expiring, or of the lender's last communication to you, whichever is later — after that the complaint is not maintainable.

4. 4

   Cyber crime loan harassment complaint: report an illegal app on 1930

   For a predatory app — contact and gallery scraping, public shaming, threats — file on the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal (cybercrime.gov.in) or call the helpline 1930. If you were threatened, lodge an FIR at your cyber police station. Unauthorised access to your contacts, photos or gallery is separately actionable under the Information Technology Act 2000 (§ 43 and § 66), and circulating private images falls under § 66E.

5. 5

   Claim the money back at the Consumer Commission

   Harassment goes to RBI and the police; your money goes to a Consumer Commission. Undisclosed interest, hidden processing fees or charges that never appeared in the Key Fact Statement are a deficiency in service and an unfair trade practice under CPA 2019 § 2(11) and § 2(47). File at the District Consumer Commission on e-Jagriti (e-jagriti.gov.in) — NIL court fee up to ₹5 lakh, within 2 years of the cause of action.

Frequently asked questions

How do I file a loan harassment complaint online?

Three portals, depending on what happened. Against the lender or NBFC, file on RBI Sachet (sachet.rbi.org.in) after you have sent a written grievance and have its reference number. Against an illegal app, or for threats and data theft, file on the National Cyber Crime portal (cybercrime.gov.in) or call 1930. To recover money — excess or undisclosed charges — file at the District Consumer Commission on e-Jagriti (e-jagriti.gov.in). All three are free to file.

Is it legal for recovery agents to call my family or post about me?

No. RBI's recovery-agent circular of 12 August 2022 bars intimidation and harassment of any kind, verbal or physical, and bars acts intended to publicly humiliate you or intrude on the privacy of your family members, referees and friends. Recovery contact is permitted only between 8:00 am and 7:00 pm. Threatening or anonymous calls, persistent calling, and inappropriate messages on mobile or social media are separately prohibited — all of it is reportable to RBI Sachet.

What are the rules on recovery-agent calls and visits?

Agents may not call you before 8:00 am or after 7:00 pm for recovery of an overdue loan. They may not use intimidation or harassment, verbal or physical, make false or misleading representations, or call persistently. Contact outside that window, or approaching your workplace or relatives to shame you, is treated as harassment. Note that the lender stays responsible for what its agents do — RBI places the accountability on the regulated entity, not the agency it hired.

A loan app accessed my contacts and gallery. What can I do?

Unauthorised access to your contacts, photos or gallery is actionable under the Information Technology Act 2000 — § 43 covers civil liability for unauthorised access and data theft, § 66 the criminal offence where it is done dishonestly or fraudulently, and § 66E the circulating of private images. Report it on the National Cyber Crime portal (cybercrime.gov.in, 1930) and to RBI Sachet, and preserve the app's permission screens and any messages sent to your contacts as evidence.

Where do I complain — RBI or the police?

Both, for different things. For the lender's conduct and unfair recovery, file on RBI Sachet (sachet.rbi.org.in). For an illegal app, data theft, or threats, report on the National Cyber Crime portal (cybercrime.gov.in, 1930) and file an FIR if you were threatened. For excess charges as a money claim, a Consumer Commission applies.

I think the interest / charges are far higher than promised. Is that actionable?

Yes. Under RBI's digital-lending framework, a lender must give you a Key Fact Statement upfront disclosing the all-in Annual Percentage Rate before you borrow. Charges that never appeared in that statement are a deficiency in service and an unfair trade practice under CPA 2019 § 2(11) and § 2(47), and you can seek a refund of the excess at a District Consumer Commission within 2 years.

I lost money to a personal-loan or lending scam. Where does that go?

If money left your account through fraud — an advance 'processing fee' for a loan that never arrived, or a fake lender — report it on cybercrime.gov.in or call 1930 as soon as possible, and notify your bank in writing. Reporting promptly matters: RBI's limited-liability framework protects a customer who reports an unauthorised electronic transaction without delay. This is a fraud route, separate from a harassment complaint against a real lender.

How do I know if a loan app is legal or RBI-registered?

A legitimate lender is an RBI-regulated bank or NBFC, or a lending service provider acting for one, and must disclose the regulated entity's name and give you a Key Fact Statement upfront. If the app hides who actually lends the money, has no grievance officer, or cannot be traced to an RBI-regulated entity, treat it as unauthorised and report it on RBI Sachet and the Cyber Crime portal. RBI also publishes a list of registered NBFCs you can check a name against.

Can they legally publish my photo or message my contacts to shame me?

No — this is illegal. Public shaming, morphed images, and mass-messaging your phonebook are prohibited by RBI's recovery-agent circular and can amount to criminal intimidation and defamation. Preserve screenshots, report on cybercrime.gov.in (1930), and file an FIR. The underlying scraping of your contacts and gallery is separately actionable under the IT Act 2000 § 43 and § 66.

How is this different from a normal banking complaint?

A standard banking dispute (wrong charge, unauthorised transaction) goes to the bank and then the RBI Banking Ombudsman. Loan-app harassment and predatory lending is a distinct problem routed through RBI Sachet plus the Cyber Crime portal, because it often involves an unregulated app, data misuse, and criminal intimidation rather than a routine service error.

Related guides

Hindi-first articles on filing a Lender grievance → RBI Sachet → Cyber Crime portal / Consumer Commission complaint.

• Recovery Agent Harassment Complaint Letter Format 2026 — Loan App Ke Against Kya Likhein

  Recovery agent subah 8 baje se pehle call nahi kar sakta. Do ready complaint letter templates — ek lender ke liye, ek cyber crime ke liye — aur RBI Sachet par free complaint kaise kare.