How to Complain About Loan Recovery Agent Harassment (2026)

How-to · Banking · Recovery Harassment

Updated for 2026 · Claw Editorial

A loan default does not make a borrower fair game. The RBI rules bar recovery agents from intimidating borrowers and from calling before 8 am or after 7 pm, and they apply to banks and NBFCs alike. This guide explains what the rules allow, and how to complain in order: to the lender, to the RBI Ombudsman, and to the police. It gives a complaint-letter template, where to file it, and the mistakes that weaken a complaint. Last verified October 2026.

01What the RBI rules allow and forbid

The RBI's Fair Practices Code and its instructions dated 12 August 2022 set limits on how lenders and their recovery agents can act. These apply to commercial banks, cooperative banks, NBFCs, asset reconstruction companies, and all-India financial institutions.

Under these rules, recovery agents must not:

• call the borrower before 8 am or after 7 pm;
• use threats, intimidation, or abusive language;
• make anonymous or repeated harassing calls; or
• shame the borrower publicly or contact others to pressure them.

A lender can lawfully demand repayment and pursue recovery, but it must do so within these limits. The RBI has been tightening these norms further, and newer recovery directions have been issued, so check the current RBI instruction that applies to your lender.

A default lets a lender demand its money. It does not let a recovery agent threaten, abuse, or call at odd hours. Those are breaches of the RBI rules.

02Step 1: complain to the lender

Start with the lender. Send a written complaint to the bank's or NBFC's grievance redressal cell or nodal officer, by email or registered post, so you have proof of when it was sent. Describe the harassment with dates, times, and the agent's name or number, and ask the lender to act and reply.

Keep a record of every call and visit as evidence: the date, time, number, agent name, and what was said. Save call recordings, messages, and any witnesses. This record is what makes a complaint credible at every later stage.

03Step 2: the RBI Ombudsman

If the lender does not resolve the complaint within 30 days, or the reply is unsatisfactory, you can escalate to the RBI Ombudsman under the Reserve Bank - Integrated Ombudsman Scheme, 2021. This single scheme covers banks, NBFCs, and other regulated entities.

You can file the Ombudsman complaint online through the RBI's complaint portal (cms.rbi.org.in), by email, or by post, attaching your complaint to the lender and its reply (or proof that 30 days have passed). The Ombudsman service is free.

04Step 3: the police and other forums

Where the conduct crosses into crime, such as criminal intimidation, abuse, trespass, or assault, you can go to the police. File a written complaint, and if a cognizable offence is disclosed, an FIR can be registered. For threats of injury or harassment, the relevant offences are now in the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023.

Other routes can run in parallel:

• Consumer forum: for deficiency in service by the lender.
• Civil court: for an injunction to restrain unlawful harassment or for damages.
• Writ or higher courts: in serious cases of continued illegal conduct.

Harassment does not wipe out the debt, so deal with the genuine dues separately, for example by negotiating a settlement, while pursuing the complaint.

05The complaint-letter template

Use this skeleton for the written complaint to the lender, and adapt it for the Ombudsman. Replace the text in square brackets.

To,
The Grievance Redressal Officer / Nodal Officer
[Bank / NBFC name and address]

Date: [date]

Subject: Complaint of harassment by recovery agents in
respect of Loan / Account No. [______]

Respected Sir / Madam,

1. I am a borrower of [bank / NBFC] under Loan / Account
   No. [______], sanctioned on [date].
2. Your recovery agents / representatives have harassed
   me in breach of the RBI Fair Practices Code, as below:
   (a) Calls received on [date] at [time], before 8 am /
       after 7 pm.
   (b) Threatening / abusive language on [date]: [detail].
   (c) Visits / calls to my family / workplace on [date].
   (d) [Any other incident, with date, time, and number.]
3. This conduct breaches the RBI instructions dated
   12 August 2022 on engagement of recovery agents.
4. I request you to: (i) stop the harassment at once;
   (ii) take action against the agents; and (iii) reply
   to this complaint within 30 days.

I reserve the right to escalate to the RBI Ombudsman and
to the police if the harassment continues.

Enclosures: [call log, recordings, messages, screenshots].

Yours faithfully,
[Name, address, phone, email]

06How to file it, step by step

1. Collect evidence first: a log of every call and visit, with date, time, number, and agent name, plus recordings and messages.
2. Write to the lender's grievance cell by email or registered post, and keep the proof of sending.
3. Wait for the reply: give the lender 30 days to resolve it.
4. Escalate to the RBI Ombudsman through cms.rbi.org.in if there is no reply or it is unsatisfactory, attaching your complaint and the lender's response.
5. Go to the police where the conduct is criminal, with a written complaint for an FIR.
6. Deal with the genuine dues separately, since the complaint does not cancel the debt.

07Common mistakes

• No evidence: complaining without a dated log of calls and visits.
• Verbal complaints only, with no written record or proof of sending.
• Skipping the lender and going straight to the Ombudsman, which usually needs the lender complained to first.
• Vague allegations without specific dates, times, and numbers.
• Ignoring the genuine debt, which still has to be dealt with.
• Missing time limits for the Ombudsman complaint.

08Where Claw fits

Claw is an all-in-one legaltech platform for Indian advocates, law firms, and corporate legal teams, combining AI-based case search, an AI legal assistant (Legal GPT), case management, and compliance automation across all Indian courts and tribunals.

If harassment or the underlying loan leads to litigation, such as a case in a consumer forum, a civil court, or a criminal complaint, it becomes a live matter. Claw tracks cases, orders and hearings across 9,102 courts, benches and forums, and searches 30 crore+ judgments with results in under 5 seconds. So you can research how courts have treated recovery harassment, and follow a live matter by party or advocate name.

Claw does not use customer case documents to train AI models. Create a FREE Claw account to track the case by party or advocate name. To research the wider body of law, see case search across Indian courts.

09Sources and further reading

• Reserve Bank of India (Fair Practices Code and recovery agent instructions): rbi.org.in
• RBI Complaint Management System (Ombudsman complaints): cms.rbi.org.in
• Claw: clawlaw.in

This guide is general information, not legal advice. RBI rules and complaint processes change, so check the current RBI instruction and scheme and take advice from counsel before you act.

10Frequently asked questions