Harassment by a loan app: what to do
For abusive calls, messages or morphed photos from a loan app or its recovery agents, including contacting your family, colleagues or contacts. This is about harassment and illegal recovery tactics, not about whether you owe the money.
Do this first
- 1
Keep every trace of the harassment
Screenshot every call, message, threat and any morphed photo sent to you or to your contacts. Note the app's name and icon, and any phone number, UPI ID or bank account it used. Don't delete anything, even after you block a number.
- 2
Lost money to the app? Call 1930
If the app took money from you dishonestly (hidden charges, forced extra payments, or a loan that never fully arrived), call the national helpline for online financial fraud straight away.
- 3
Tell the people the app contacted
If the app has already messaged your family, colleagues or contacts, tell them what is going on. Contacting a borrower's phone contacts to shame them into paying is a tactic some loan apps use. It is not proof that you have done anything wrong.
Where to report what
Use the channel that matches what happened to you. You can use more than one.
| What happened | Where | When |
|---|---|---|
| What happenedHarassment, threats or a morphed photo, from the app or its recovery agents | WhereCyber crime portal, Other Cyber Crime | WhenAs soon as it happens |
| What happenedMoney taken from you dishonestly (hidden charges, forced extra payments) | WhereCall 1930, then the portal's Financial Fraud category | WhenAs soon as you notice |
| What happenedThe calls, SMS or WhatsApp numbers used against you | WhereChakshu, on Sanchar Saathi | WhenWithin 30 days |
| What happenedA morphed photo or your contacts' details posted on social media | WhereThe platform itself; the cyber crime portal has direct links to each platform's reporting page | WhenAs soon as you see it |
| What happenedThe app named a bank or NBFC that isn't acting on your complaint | WhereRBI Complaint Management System | WhenAfter the bank/NBFC replies, or after 30 days |
Step by step
- 1
Check whether the app is allowed to lend at all
RBI has said legitimate lending can only be carried out by a bank, an NBFC registered with RBI, or an entity regulated under a state's money lending law. An app lending on behalf of a bank or NBFC is required to name that bank or NBFC to you upfront.
Under RBI's rules for digital lending, a bank or NBFC must list its lending apps, and the companies working for it, on its own website. If the app never named a bank or NBFC, or you cannot find it listed there, it may be lending outside any regulation.
If it is lending outside any regulation, the RBI route below will not help you: there is no bank or NBFC to complain to. Report the app on the cyber crime portal and to the app store, as in the steps below, and keep everything.
- 2
Report it on the cyber crime portal
Report the app and the harassment under Other Cyber Crime.
If money was taken from you dishonestly, call 1930 first, and report it under Financial Fraud.
- 3
Report the calls, SMS or WhatsApp numbers used against you
Use Chakshu on Sanchar Saathi to report the numbers that called, messaged or threatened you.
This helps get the number checked and cut off. It doesn't resolve the harassment by itself, so also do the other steps here.
- 4
If a morphed photo or your details were posted or shared
Report it to the platform it was posted or sent on. If you cannot find the platform's report option, the cyber crime portal has a page of direct links to each platform's reporting page. That page only takes you to the platform; your government complaint is the one in the step above.
- 5
If the app named a bank or NBFC, complain to it and to RBI
A bank or NBFC is responsible for the conduct of the recovery agents and lending apps working for it. RBI's rules say a recovery agent must not call you before 8 am or after 7 pm, must not call you over and over, and must not threaten or intimidate you, humiliate you publicly, or intrude on the privacy of your family, referees, friends or colleagues.
Complain to that bank or NBFC in writing first. If it doesn't resolve things, or you don't hear back in 30 days, complain to RBI through its Complaint Management System. For help with the form, call RBI on 14448: you get the recorded menu any time, and can reach a person Monday to Saturday.
- 6
Report the app to Google Play or the App Store
Both app stores let you report an app for harassment, data misuse or fraud. This does not replace reporting to 1930 or the police, but app stores can remove apps that break their rules.
- 7
If the threats continue, go to the police
Criminal intimidation, blackmail, and using a morphed photo to threaten or defame you, are crimes, separate from any money you owe. You can file a police complaint or an FIR about them.
Not repaying a loan is generally a civil matter, not a crime. A recovery agent has no power to arrest you.
Watch out
- Anyone, including the app itself, who asks for more money to "clear your record", stop the calls, or remove a morphed photo, is using the same pressure tactics. It is not a real process.
- Recovery agents working for a bank or NBFC must not call you before 8 am or after 7 pm, call you over and over, threaten you, or harass or shame your family, referees, friends or colleagues. That goes against RBI's rules.
- Not repaying a loan is generally a civil matter. A recovery agent has no power to arrest you, and the police don't arrest people over a video call.
When an advocate can help
You can do every step above yourself. An advocate can help with:
- Writing a legal notice to the bank or NBFC the app named, after it doesn't act on your complaint
- Filing an FIR for criminal intimidation, blackmail, or a morphed photo used against you
Sources
- RBI cautions against unauthorised digital lending platforms and mobile apps (25 Dec 2020) · Press Information Bureau (Ministry of Finance)
- Reserve Bank of India (Digital Lending) Directions, 2025 · Reserve Bank of India
- Outsourcing of Financial Services: responsibilities of regulated entities employing recovery agents (12 Aug 2022) · Reserve Bank of India
- Finance Minister chairs meeting on illegal loan apps (9 Sep 2022) · Press Information Bureau (Ministry of Finance)
- National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal · Ministry of Home Affairs
- Chakshu, Sanchar Saathi · Department of Telecommunications
- Report abuse to social media platforms · Ministry of Home Affairs
- RBI complaint portal (RBI Ombudsman) · Reserve Bank of India
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This guide explains how to report a problem through official channels. It is not legal advice.