Common questions about CIBIL, credit reports, disputes, and improving your score in India.
A CIBIL score is a three-digit number from 300 to 900. It sums up your credit history as reported to TransUnion CIBIL by banks and NBFCs. The closer it is to 900, the more confident a lender feels about your repayment behaviour. Most lenders in India start feeling comfortable once your score crosses 750.
Each bureau uses its own scoring model, and not every lender reports to all four bureaus at the same time. If one score was generated last week and another last month, you are comparing two different snapshots of your credit behaviour. It does not always mean something is wrong.
No. If you were really late on a payment, the DPD entry is correct, and no bureau will remove correct data just because it is inconvenient for you. What you can dispute is a DPD that is factually wrong, for example a payment marked late when you paid on time, or more days overdue than what actually happened.
Not if you really applied for that credit. Every inquiry you made yourself stays on record for the retention period the bureau follows. What you can dispute is an inquiry that you never made. That is a data mismatch, not a record of your own behaviour, so it is fine to challenge it.
Unlike some other countries, India does not have a fixed rule to remove old negative entries. Under the Credit Information Companies (Regulation) Act, 2005, bureaus must keep your data for at least the past 7 years. But there is no maximum limit, so a negative mark can legally stay on your file for much longer if the lender keeps reporting it. In practice, its effect on your score becomes smaller with time, but it does not disappear automatically on a fixed date like it does in the US.
Generally, 750 and above is seen as a strong score by most Indian lenders. A score from 650 to 749 is fine, but you may get higher interest rates. Below 650, approval usually becomes harder, though it is not an automatic rejection everywhere.
Most lenders send account data to the bureaus once a month, so your score usually refreshes once a month as these updates come in. A big payment or a new account may not show on the same day. It usually takes one full reporting cycle.
No. Checking your own report is a 'soft inquiry' and it has no effect on your score. Only 'hard inquiries' can cause a small and temporary dip. These happen when a lender pulls your report because you applied for credit.
There is no fixed number. But several inquiries within a short time, like a month or two, look like you are actively hunting for credit, and lenders often see this with caution. If you can, keep some gap between your applications so that this does not become a problem.
You can raise it directly on CIBIL's online dispute portal using your report details. You can also send an email to CIBIL's nodal officers that explains the exact error and has proof attached. We have explained the full step-by-step process in our CIBIL dispute guide, including what to do if the portal does not solve it.