Are Recovery Agents Contacting You for Someone Else’s Loan?

In an actual incident that occurred in Mumbai, a man claimed that bank recovery agents were harassing him over a relative’s debt.

Their calls included verbal abuse towards him and people he knew. The agent also had personal information and kept threatening him with it, constantly invading his privacy.

Unfortunately, this occurs very often, especially in India. This usually happens because somebody will give another person’s contact number as a reference, often without the other person’s consent. This leads to people feeling distressed and being trapped in a situation they did not consent for.

There have been several reports of recovery agents repeatedly calling people, demanding that they repay their loans. The borrower themselves may have provided someone else’s number and absconded. They will switch their phones off and leave the residence registered with the financial institution.

Sometimes, a wrong phone number may have been input mistakenly and other times, the number may be outdated. The debt collectors, who have strict recovery targets, start pressuring the reference contacts or the people who did not even borrow the loan, for repayment. However, a reference is not liable for any repayment whatsoever.

This fact still does not deter recovery agents. They try every single method they can, disregarding ethics, to try and collect the money they have been assigned. These agents will keep calling people listed in the reference and try to pressurize or intimidate them into paying, often utilizing personal information such as place of employment.

These calls are not just a cause for emotional distress but also intimidating since a burden of financial debt is placed on you that is not even yours to repay. It can cause people to worry that despite them not borrowing the money in the first place, the legal responsibility would still be theirs, creating anxiety.

What is especially scary is the invasion of privacy, with the recovery agents often having extensive information about the person they have the number of.
Also Read: Is Someone Taking Loans in Your Name

Record all interactions. To make sure that the issue can be communicated properly, you should document all interactions as evidence. This includes recording audio of the repeated phone calls, noting the time stamps (especially before 8 am or after 7 pm), screenshots of messages, etc.

According to RBI’s updated policies, recovery agents cannot contact you before 8 am or after 7pm, much less show up at your doorstep without your consent. This was a step taken in response to loan recovery tactics that crossed limits and a way to safeguard a borrower’s legal protection.

Ask for the record. Always ask for paper proof. The collection agent must show proof of the loan amount, the name given, and the borrower’s signature. If the agent comes without an authorization letter, their visit is completely illegal, which can be reported. If your name or signature does not appear on any of the documents, then you have no obligation whatsoever to pay a single rupee.

Escalate to RBI portals. If there are any instances of harassment or situation of any concern, or the calls keep repeating, official grievances should be filed with the bank or NBFC that loaned the money. Cases such as these should be reported. Portals like RBI Complaint Management System and RBI Sachet Portal are meant to resolve issues such as this.

Cases of recovery agents contacting for someone else’s loans are frequent in India. No one expects recurrent calls on a random day, asking you to repay someone else’s loan.

So, the first step you should take is to inform the recovery agent that your number had been shared as reference without you knowing and that you would not be repaying the loan. Despite this, if the calls continue then one should be aware of the digital resources at hand, like the ones listed above, to seek help or to prevent escalation of any kind of harassment.