Overview

• Governor Sanjay Malhotra said the proposal remains under consideration and the RBI is recording views from both supporters and critics.
• Any permissions are expected to be set through revisions to the Fair Practices Code requiring explicit prior consent and prohibiting lender access to personal data.
• Officials described the assessment as a balance between safeguarding borrowers and addressing lender recovery needs given rising delinquencies on small-ticket electronics loans.
• Reports note the RBI had earlier asked lenders to pause phone-locking via pre-installed apps, and trigger thresholds, grace periods, and dispute-resolution steps are still unspecified.
• The review aligns with the expansion of digital credit such as EMI-on-UPI and growing RuPay- and UPI-linked credit usage, with roughly one-third of consumer electronics bought on EMIs.