CHANDIGARH: A wrong CIBIL tag turned into a costly mistake for a leading credit card company after the District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission, Chandigarh, ordered it to erase the error and cough up Rs 20,000 in compensation. The verdict came after a Sector 18 resident, who had cleared his dues way back in 2007 and held a ‘no dues’ certificate, was hounded years later with calls claiming unpaid amounts and flagged as a defaulter in his credit report.In his complaint, the resident said he had cleared his dues under a full-and-final settlement of Rs 18,000 and was issued a ‘No Dues’ acknowledgement. Despite this, he started receiving calls in 2020, claiming Rs 11,652 was still outstanding. When he checked his CIBIL report, he found his name marked as a loan defaulter.

According to the complaint, the consumer approached the company with proof of payment, and while staff allegedly acknowledged the error and assured rectification, no corrective action was taken. In the commission, the company argued that the account had been transferred to another bank in 2016 under a securitisation process. However, the commission noted that dues had already been cleared in 2007 and the account should not have been reported as default thereafter. It also recorded that the bank now handling the account had issued a no-dues certificate in 2021, confirming no outstanding payments.The commission observed that prolonged inaction forced the consumer into otherwise avoidable correspondence, causing harassment. It directed the company to immediately ensure removal of the complainant’s name from the CIBIL defaulter list, if not already done and pay Rs 20,000 towards harassment, mental agony and litigation expensesErrors in CIBIL records can block access to bank loans, housing finance, vehicle loans, credit cards and sometimes even impact job or visa processing.