Credit score
Where can you check your credit score free in India?
You are entitled to one free full credit report, including your score, every calendar year from each of India's four credit bureaus that holds your credit history. The apps offering a "free credit score" are easier to find, but they work differently from the bureaus: check which bureau they use, what they show and what they ask for.
By Aman Multani, Founding Partner & Editor · Published 2 September 2026 · Last verified 27 September 2026
Update, 15 October 2026: We reworded the line saying free reports contain “the same information a lender sees”, rewrote the comparison of bureaus with free score apps, and added a table of terms. The earlier wording said more than our sources support. The “Last verified” date above has not changed.
The short answer
Go directly to each credit bureau and request your free annual report, using the official links below. That is up to four full reports a year, one from each bureau that holds your credit history, at no cost. RBI’s 2016 notification says the free report must match the most detailed version of the report the bureau gives lenders. It is still one bureau’s record: a lender may check a different bureau, and your scores can differ between them.
The rule comes from the Reserve Bank of India. An RBI notification dated 1 September 2016, in force from 1 January 2017, made every credit information company provide one Free Full Credit Report, including the credit score, once per calendar year to any individual whose credit history it holds. The current RBI (Credit Information Companies) Directions, 2025 keep the same entitlement (para 21(7)): one free full report with score, in electronic form, on request and after the bureau has verified your identity, once in each January–December year. TransUnion CIBIL's free-score page confirms the once-a-year entitlement; more frequent access is sold as a paid plan.
India has four bureaus, and they are not interchangeable
This is the part most people get wrong. "CIBIL" is often used as though it means "credit score," but CIBIL is one bureau among four. A CIBIL report and an Experian report are two different documents, built from two different databases.
| Bureau | Notes |
|---|---|
| TransUnion CIBIL | The oldest and most widely used by Indian lenders |
| Experian | Global credit reporting company operating in India |
| Equifax | Global data and analytics company operating in India |
| CRIF High Mark | Strong coverage in microfinance and commercial credit |
RBI requires banks and NBFCs to be members of all four bureaus and to report your accounts to all of them. For banks, the RBI (Commercial Banks – Credit Information Reporting) Directions, 2025 list the four registered bureaus (para 4(2)), require membership of all of them (para 6) and require every borrower’s credit information to be reported to all of them (para 10(1)). The equivalent Directions for NBFCs and urban co-operative banks contain the same two rules (paras 6 and 10(1)). Even so, your reports from different bureaus are not identical, and that has two consequences that matter to you.
Your scores will differ. Each bureau uses its own scoring model on its own set of data, so the same person can score differently at each one. That is normal and not a sign anything is wrong.
An error can exist at one bureau and not another. Each bureau receives and matches data separately, so a mismatched record, a missed update or a duplicate can appear in one report and not the others. Checking one bureau tells you about one bureau.
Bureau, score, full report and refresh: four different things
Most of the confusion comes from using these words as if they meant the same thing.
| Term | What it is, and what to know |
|---|---|
| Bureau | One of the four companies that holds your credit record: TransUnion CIBIL, Experian, Equifax or CRIF High Mark. Each holds its own copy of your record, so what you see at one bureau does not confirm what the others hold. |
| Credit score | A number a bureau calculates from its own data with its own model. Included in the free annual report (RBI Directions, 2025, para 21(7)). Scores from different bureaus are not directly comparable. |
| Full credit report | The account-by-account record: loans and cards, repayment history, enquiries and personal details. Free once in each January–December year from each bureau. Extra reports are sold as paid plans. |
| Refresh frequency | How often a provider shows you an updated score. Set by each provider; the free report entitlement above is once a year. Your record itself changes only when lenders report new information. |
TransUnion CIBIL’s own free-report page (read on 15 October 2026) says its free report is available once in a calendar year, and that someone who took one on or after 1 January 2026 can take the next from 1 January 2027. If you are building a first credit history, the guide to lifetime free credit cards covers FD-backed cards.
How to claim your free report from each bureau
Each bureau runs its own free-report journey on its own website, and each will ask you to verify your identity before releasing the report.
Check your official credit report
Direct links to each bureau’s own free-report page.
- TransUnion CIBILOfficial site: cibil.comCheck on CIBIL (opens the TransUnion CIBIL website in a new tab)
- CRIF High MarkOfficial site: cir.crifhighmark.comCheck on CRIF (opens the CRIF High Mark website in a new tab)
- EquifaxOfficial site: equifax.co.inCheck on Equifax (opens the Equifax website in a new tab)
- ExperianOfficial site: consumer.experian.inCheck on Experian (opens the Experian website in a new tab)
You continue on the bureau’s own website. The bureau verifies your identity and gives the report to you directly. CreditBharosa does not receive your PAN, OTP or credit report through these links, does not store it, and cannot see it afterwards. These are plain links: CreditBharosa is not partnered with any bureau and earns nothing from them. Your scores can differ from bureau to bureau, because each one works from its own records and its own scoring model.
A practical approach: rather than claiming them all in the same week, space them across the year — one each quarter. You get the same free reports, but you are checking your credit health four times a year instead of once.
What about the free credit score apps?
Many apps and lenders offer a free credit score, among them Paisabazaar, BankBazaar, OneScore, Bajaj Finserv and CRED. What each one gives you differs, so read the provider’s own page before you enter your details.
| Direct from the bureau | Free score app or lender (varies by provider) | |
|---|---|---|
| What you get | The bureau’s full credit report, including your score: accounts, enquiries and personal details | Anything from a score alone to a score with a summary or a fuller report |
| How often | Free once in each calendar year | Set by the provider; some refresh monthly |
| Which bureaus | Each bureau that holds your history gives its own free report | Depends on the provider: some show one bureau, some show several |
| What it asks for | Identity verification by the bureau | Usually a mobile number and OTP, often your PAN. Read the consent terms |
| What else it does | Sells paid plans for extra reports (CIBIL and Equifax say so on their pages) | May also show loan, card or paid-plan offers. Check the provider’s disclosure for how it earns |
Monthly score tracking can be useful. What a score on its own cannot do is show you errors: for that you need the account-level report. Check what a provider actually shows against the table above before relying on it.
Does checking your own score reduce it?
No. Checking your own score is a soft enquiry and has no effect on it. Only applications you submit to a lender create hard enquiries, and those are what can affect your score.
This myth costs people real money. It stops them checking, which means errors go unnoticed for years and surface at the worst possible moment — during a loan application.
What to do once you have the report
Read every line, and separate two things.
Errors can be disputed, free of charge, with the bureau holding them. Accounts you do not recognise, a loan showing as open after you closed it, a payment marked late that you made on time, a "settled" marking on something you paid in full, duplicate entries, or a name or PAN mismatch.
Accurate negative history cannot be removed by anyone, at any price. A genuine default, a genuine late payment, a genuine settlement. Any company promising to delete these is describing something that cannot be done.
Disputes cost nothing to raise. Under the RBI (Credit Information Companies) Directions, 2025 (para 41), if a complaint is not resolved within 30 days of filing, you are entitled to ₹100 for every calendar day of delay.
Not sure whether the bureau or the lender has to correct a particular error? Our Credit Report Error Navigator shows who has to fix each kind of error and which official channel to use.
If a loan or card was refused and your report looks correct, the loan rejection decoder lists the common reasons and what to check.
What actually improves your score
Common questions
How many free credit reports can I get in a year?
Up to four. Each of India's four credit bureaus (TransUnion CIBIL, Experian, Equifax and CRIF High Mark) must give you one free full credit report, including your score, once every calendar year (January to December), if it holds your credit history.
Which bureau's score matters most?
Whichever one your lender checks, and you will not know in advance. CIBIL has the widest use among Indian lenders, but that is not a guarantee.
Why is my score different on two apps?
Because they are showing you different bureaus' scores, calculated on different data with different models. Both can be accurate at the same time.
Do I have to pay to fix an error?
No. Raising a dispute with a bureau is free. Anyone charging you for access to a free process is charging for convenience, and should say so plainly.
How often should I check?
Spacing your free reports across the year, one bureau each quarter, gives you regular visibility at no cost. Check before any major loan or card application, not after.
Your next step, in order
Checking the score is step one of four. Most people stop here, which is why the number never moves.
- Get the score, free You are here. Claim your free report from each bureau across the year using the official links above — never pay for access to a free entitlement.
- Understand what it means A number on its own tells you nothing. What the score is actually measuring — the five factors, and how much each one really weighs.
- Fix and build Dispute the errors first, since they cost nothing to raise. Then work the levers that genuinely move the number, with realistic timelines rather than promises.
- Match a product to your file A thin file and a healthy file need different cards. Compare what fits below.
This article is general information, not financial advice. Bureau processes and charges change — verify current details on the bureau's own website. Found an error here? Tell us and we will correct it with a dated note.