RBI Digital Lending Guidelines: What Borrowers Should Know

Digital lending has made credit dramatically more accessible in India — including rent and deposit financing. To keep the ecosystem safe, the Reserve Bank of India has laid down a comprehensive framework (the Digital Lending Guidelines, first issued in September 2022 and consolidated in the Digital Lending Directions, 2025) that governs how apps and platforms like RentHatke, called Lending Service Providers (LSPs), work with regulated lenders. Here is what those rules mean for you as a borrower.

1. Money flows only between you and the regulated lender

Loan disbursal and repayment must happen directly between your bank account and the regulated entity (a bank or RBI-registered NBFC). The platform you applied through cannot hold your loan money in its own account. This protects you if the platform ever shuts down — your loan relationship is always with a regulated lender.

2. You must get a Key Fact Statement (KFS)

Before you sign anything, the lender must give you a standardised Key Fact Statement showing the all-inclusive Annual Percentage Rate (APR), total interest cost, processing fees, penal charges and recovery mechanism. Any fee not disclosed in the KFS cannot be charged to you later — ever.

3. A cooling-off period to exit the loan

You have a cooling-off window (as specified by the lender's board policy) during which you can exit a digital loan by repaying just the principal and proportionate APR — with no penalty. If you take a loan and change your mind within this period, you are not trapped.

4. Your data is protected

• Apps can collect only need-based data, with your explicit consent.
• They cannot access your phone contacts, call logs or media files (except one-time camera/mic access for KYC).
• You have the right to ask for your data to be deleted and to revoke consent already given.

5. A named grievance officer and the RBI Ombudsman

Both the lender and the platform must publish a grievance redressal officer's name and contact. If your complaint is not resolved within 30 days, you can escalate it free of cost to the RBI's Integrated Ombudsman at cms.rbi.org.in.

How to spot a non-compliant lending app

• It cannot name the RBI-regulated bank/NBFC behind the loan.
• No Key Fact Statement or APR disclosure before signing.
• Disbursal to or repayment through a third-party or personal account.
• It demands access to your contact list or photo gallery.
• No grievance officer details published on the website or app.