Home › Circulars › RBI/2026-27/29

RBI Amends Credit Card Reporting and Late Payment Charges

Current · Source: Reserve Bank of India · RBI/2026-27/29 · issued 27 Apr 2026 · ~1 min read

Quick answerRBI amends credit card reporting and late payment charges rules, effective April 1, 2027. Banks must report 'past due' accounts to CICs or levy charges only after 3 days. Late payment charges apply to outstanding amounts, not total due amounts.

The rule, in the simplest words

Starting April 1, 2027, banks must wait 3 days after the due date before reporting a credit card account as 'past due' (late) to credit bureaus or charging late fees.
Late payment charges are calculated only on the amount you still owe (outstanding amount), not on the full bill (total amount due).
The number of days you are late is counted from the payment due date on your credit card statement.

How it plays out — a real example

A credit & lending officer in Indore notices a customer's credit card payment is due on April 5. The customer pays on April 9. Under the new rule, the officer waits until April 8 (3 days after the due date) before reporting the account as past due to the credit bureau and only charges a late fee on the unpaid amount, not the full bill.

What changed

RBI has amended paragraph 23(5) of the Commercial Banks – Credit Cards and Debit Cards: Issuance and Conduct Directions, 2025. The amendment modifies the rules for reporting 'past due' credit card accounts and levying late payment charges.

What it means for you

This amendment affects banks' credit card reporting and late payment charges. Banks must now report 'past due' accounts to credit information companies (CICs) or levy charges only after 3 days. Late payment charges apply to outstanding amounts, not total due amounts, which may reduce revenue for banks.

What you must do

Review and update credit card reporting processes to reflect the new 3-day threshold for 'past due' accounts
Modify late payment charge calculations to apply only to outstanding amounts, not total due amounts
Train staff on the updated rules and procedures

Who it affects

Commercial banks, Credit card issuers, Credit information companies (CICs)

❓ Common questions

Regulatory timeline

Stated effective date effective April 1, 2027
Decoded by BankPulse 2026-06-17 15:01 IST

Built from our lineage records — each fact carries its provenance; missing history simply is not shown (never guessed).

What is the new threshold for reporting 'past due' credit card accounts?

3 days

When do late payment charges apply?

Only to outstanding amounts, not total due amounts

When do the new rules come into effect?

April 1, 2027

📜 Read the original circular — full text as issued by RBI

RBI/2026-27/29
 DOR.STR.REC.11/24-01-041/2026-27
 April 27, 2026
 Reserve Bank of India (Commercial Banks – Credit Cards and Debit Cards: Issuance and Conduct) - Amendment Directions, 2026
 Please refer to Reserve Bank of India (Commercial Banks – Credit Cards and Debit Cards: Issuance and Conduct) Directions, 2025 (hereinafter referred to as 'the Directions').
 2. Consequent to the issuance of Reserve Bank of India (Commercial Banks - Asset Classification, Provisioning and Income Recognition) Directions, 2026 and in exercise of the powers conferred by the section 35A of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949 and all other laws enabling the Reserve Bank in this regard, the Reserve Bank being satisfied that it is necessary and expedient in the public interest so to do, hereby issues the Amendment Directions hereinafter specified.
 3. The Amendment Directions shall modify the paragraph 23(5) as below:
 "Card-issuers shall report a credit card account as 'past due' to credit information companies (CICs) or levy penal charges, viz. late payment charges and other related charges, if any, only when a credit card account remains 'past due' for more than three days. The number of 'days past due' and late payment charges shall, however, be computed from the payment due date mentioned in the credit card statement, as specified under the Reserve Bank of India (Commercial Banks - Asset Classification, Provisioning and Income Recognition) Directions, 2026 amended from time to time. Late payment charges and other related charges shall be levied, only on the outstanding amount after the due date, and not on the total amount due."
 4. The above amendments shall come into force from April 01, 2027.
 (Vaibhav Chaturvedi)
 Chief General Manager

Reproduced for reference with acknowledgment — Source: Reserve Bank of India · RBI/2026-27/29 · issued 27 Apr 2026. The plain-English explanation above is BankPulse’s own independent summary.

🧰 Tools — save, print, templates & related

Topics: Credit Cards

Most relevant forProduct Manager (Digital & Lending)Compliance Team Risk Management Data Science / Analytics IT & Cyber Security Internal Audit

🛠 Banker’s toolkit — checklists & reply templates →

Key dataSee the live numbers behind this topic: Credit & Deposit Growth, NPA / Asset-Quality Tracker — updated from official RBI data.

Key termsPlain-English definitions of terms in this circular — see the full Indian banking glossary. Key Facts Statement (KFS) · Gross NPA (GNPA) · Special Mention Account (SMA) · KYC / AML

Related circulars · Department of Regulation

SFB Pillar 3 Disclosure Norms Aligned with Basel UCB Deposit Rate Disclosure & Uniformity Rules Updated LAB Deposit Rate Disclosure & Uniformity Rules Tightened Payments Banks: Interest Rates Must Match Disclosed Schedule RBI Updates Bulk Deposit Rate Rules and Disclosure Timing

Browse all departments →

Worked example & action-note template

Example: if you are a Compliance officer at a bank this circular applies to (Commercial banks, Credit card issuers, Credit information companies (CICs)), your first concrete step on “RBI Amends Credit Card Reporting and Late Payment Charges” is: “Review and update credit card reporting processes to reflect the new 3-day threshold for 'past due' accounts” (RBI issued this 27 Apr 2026).

Circular: RBI/2026-27/29 -- RBI Amends Credit Card Reporting and Late Payment Charges
Issued: 27 Apr 2026
Action required: Review and update credit card reporting processes to reflect the new 3-day threshold for 'past due' accounts
Action required: Modify late payment charge calculations to apply only to outstanding amounts, not total due amounts
Action required: Train staff on the updated rules and procedures
Owner: ____________ Target date: ____________
Board/committee approval needed? Y / N
Evidence filed in compliance register on: ____________

Built only from this circular’s own published fields — not legal advice; always confirm against the official RBI source.

💬 Banker Discussion

Discuss this circular with fellow bankers — reply, upvote what helps, report what doesn’t belong. Be professional; no client data. Views are the commenter’s own, not BankPulse’s.

Loading comments…

BankPulse Compliance Evidence Pack — generated 03 Aug 2026 · status cross-checked against RBI’s official withdrawal register (refreshed weekly).
Official RBI source: https://www.rbi.org.in/Scripts/NotificationUser.aspx?Id=13388&Mode=0 — Plain-English summary by BankPulse (bankpulse.ai), reviewed by our expert reviewer, CA Amit Jain. Independent platform, not affiliated with the Reserve Bank of India; is our own plain-English paraphrase, not RBI’s original wording.