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How to Check Your Credit Score for Free — and What to Do With It
Your credit score is your right to see. Most Indians have never checked it. Here is how — and what to look for.
By RBI mandate, every Indian is entitled to one free credit report per year from each of the four credit bureaus. Checking your own score — called a soft inquiry — does not affect it in any way. Despite this, the majority of Indians have never seen their own credit report.
Checking your credit score should be an annual ritual — like a health check-up for your financial life.
How to check for free — step by step
CIBIL
Visit mycibil.com. Enter your PAN, date of birth, address, and phone number. Complete OTP verification. Your free annual report is generated immediately.
Equifax
Visit equifax.co.in and follow the free report process. Same PAN-based verification.
Experian
Visit experian.in — free report available with PAN and email verification.
CRIF High Mark
Visit crifhighmark.com — free annual report with basic KYC details.
Several fintech apps — Bajaj Finserv, BankBazaar, Paisa Bazaar, Groww — also provide free CIBIL score checks. These are legitimate and do not affect your score. They are soft inquiries.
What to look for in your credit report
- Personal Information — Is your name, date of birth, PAN, and address correct? Errors here can cause identity confusion with another person's credit record.
- Account Summary — Are all listed accounts actually yours? Check for any accounts you do not recognise — this could indicate identity theft or a data error.
- Payment History — Are all EMI payments correctly marked as 'paid on time'? Any incorrectly marked late payments should be disputed immediately.
- Enquiry Section — How many hard inquiries have lenders made on your report? Multiple recent inquiries lower your score and may signal that you are over-applying for credit.
- Settled or Written-Off Accounts — Any accounts marked 'settled' (where you paid less than owed) or 'written off' are serious negatives. Confirm these are accurate.
A professional in Bengaluru checked his CIBIL report for the first time after a loan rejection. He found an active personal loan of ₹3 lakh in his name — taken in his city, at a branch he had never visited, with an address that was not his. Identity fraud. He filed a dispute with CIBIL, reported it to the bank and police, and the error was removed after 60 days. His loan was then approved. Had he never checked, the fraudulent loan would have continued damaging his score indefinitely.
Check your credit report once a year — minimum. Check it before applying for any significant loan. And check it if you have been a victim of any data breach or document misuse. It takes 10 minutes and protects years of financial reputation.
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