An unreversed annual card fee (plus GST) gets added to the statement’s Minimum Amount Due, so paying only your actual spends leaves a shortfall that the issuer reports to the credit bureau as an overdue amount with a days-past-due (DPD) flag, and reversing the fee later in the bank’s ledger does not rewrite the DPD history already submitted to the bureau.
Root Cause Diagnosis
The reporting chain has three separate records, and only the first is fixed by a fee reversal:
- Card ledger. The fee and its GST post as debits, which raises Total Amount Due and Minimum Amount Due (MAD). If a promised waiver (spend-based or lifetime-free) was never applied, MAD is overstated by the fee, and by any late fee and interest that accrue on it in later cycles.
- Bureau submission. The issuer sends each account’s DPD, amount overdue, and balance to the credit information companies (CICs) on a fixed cycle. RBI requires lenders to update bureau records every 15 days, on the 15th and the last day of each month. A ledger reversal does not trigger an amended submission for past months.
- Bureau report. CIBIL displays what the issuer last submitted per month. Until the issuer sends corrected data for each affected month, the DPD grid keeps the overdue marker.
Quick Fix
Send the bank’s nodal officer a correction request that demands bureau re-submission, not just a fee reversal. Use email so the date is on record, and keep the reference number.
Subject: Request to correct credit bureau data - Card ending XXXX - Complaint ref <no.>
I request correction of the credit information reported for card ending XXXX.
1. The annual fee of Rs <amount> + GST charged on <date> was reversed on <date> (statement dated <date>). The fee was not payable under <waiver condition / T&C clause>.
2. Because the fee was included in the Minimum Amount Due on the statement dated <date>, my account was reported with DPD <value> for <month(s)>. All other dues were paid in full by the due date (proof attached).
3. Reverse any late payment fee, finance charge, and GST levied on the disputed fee.
4. Send corrected data to all credit information companies (CIBIL, Experian, Equifax, CRIF High Mark) for every affected month, with DPD 000 and amount overdue 0.
5. Confirm in writing the date the corrected data was submitted.
Under RBI rules, this must be resolved within 30 calendar days of this complaint, failing which compensation of Rs 100 per day applies.
Attachments: statements, reversal entry, payment proof, waiver communication.
Bank account for compensation: <account no., IFSC>
Step-by-Step Resolution
1. Pull the report and locate the faulty rows
Download your free full report from the CIBIL consumer portal (myscore.cibil.com). Under Accounts > [Card issuer] > Payment history, record these for each affected month:
Month | DPD | Amount Overdue | Current Balance | Date Reported
Note the Date Reported. It tells you which statement cycle the issuer used. Check whether the same card appears twice (for example after a card migration or reissue).
2. Prove the overdue amount came only from the fee
Rebuild the arithmetic from the statement for each flagged month:
Minimum Amount Due (as billed) = A
Disputed fee + GST + late fee + interest = F
Corrected Minimum Amount Due = A - F
Your payment before the due date = P
If P >= (A - F) -> no genuine overdue; the DPD is attributable to the fee
If P < (A - F) -> part of the DPD is valid; dispute only the portion caused by F
If the fee was unpaid for more than one cycle, repeat the calculation per cycle. Late fees and interest on the fee raise MAD again, which is how a single DPD 30 can become DPD 60.
3. Assemble the evidence file
Collect these as PDFs:
- Statement showing the fee and GST debit
- Statement showing the reversal credit (fee, GST, late fee, interest)
- Proof of payment for the rest of the dues, before the due date
- Written waiver offer, card T&C, or the spend-threshold clause
- Any SMS or email the bank sent before reporting the delinquency (or proof that none was received)
- Customer-care call logs and complaint reference numbers
4. Complain to the issuer first
Send the template above to the card’s grievance email and the nodal officer, and get a ticket number. The issuer owns the data, so the bureau cannot change it without the issuer’s confirmation. The 30-day period is split into 21 days for the lender and 9 days for the bureau, and the resolution date is when the corrected report reaches you by post or email.
5. Raise a parallel dispute with each bureau
On CIBIL, go to Dashboard > Dispute Resolution > Raise a dispute, select the card account, choose the field in error (payment history / amount overdue), and attach the evidence file. Repeat on the Experian, Equifax, and CRIF High Mark portals. Each bureau keeps an independent copy, and a fix at one does not propagate to the others.
6. Track the compensation clock
| Day | Event |
|---|---|
| 0 | Complaint filed with issuer or bureau (first filing counts) |
| 21 | Issuer deadline to send corrected data to the CIC |
| 30 | Final resolution deadline |
| 31+ | Rs 100 per calendar day accrues until resolution |
RBI’s rules entitle a complainant to Rs 100 per calendar day if the complaint is not resolved within 30 calendar days of the initial filing, and the amount must be credited to the complainant’s bank account within five working days of resolution. Claim it in writing from day 31, quoting the original complaint date.
7. Escalate if unresolved or rejected
- Issuer’s Principal Nodal Officer or Internal Grievance Redressal Officer.
- RBI Integrated Ombudsman Scheme, 2021: file at cms.rbi.org.in or call 14448. This requires that you first complained to the lender or bureau and got either no resolution in the 30-day window or a rejection you dispute; the Ombudsman can order the correction and award compensation. The scheme’s filing window is one year from the entity’s reply (or from the end of the 30-day period if there was no reply).
- Consumer commission under the Consumer Protection Act, 2019 (e-Daakhil portal), for deficiency in service and consequential loss, such as a rejected loan or a higher interest rate.
8. Verify the correction
After the next reporting cycle, pull a fresh report from each bureau and confirm:
DPD (affected months) = 000
Amount Overdue = 0
Account Status = standard / active (not SMA, written-off, or settled)
Date Reported = after the date of the issuer's confirmation
Save the corrected PDF with its generation date. Lenders pull their own copies, so ask any recently rejecting lender to re-pull the report.
Why This Fails for Some Users
- Fee reversed, bureau data unchanged. The reversal is a ledger entry. Without an explicit bureau-correction request, the issuer may never submit amended history. Ask for the written submission date.
- Dispute closed as “verified as accurate.” The bureau compares against the issuer’s file. If the dispute does not name the fee as the cause and attach the statements, the issuer’s reply defaults to “reported as per records.” Ask for the rejection reason in writing and re-file with the evidence.
- Fee was validly charged. If the waiver condition (for example, a spend threshold within the card year) was not met, the DPD is correct. The remedy is to pay and request a goodwill adjustment, which the issuer is not obliged to grant.
- Payment allocation order. Issuers apply payments to taxes, fees, and interest before purchases, so a payment that looked sufficient can leave part of the spend balance outstanding. Check how the payment was allocated on the next statement.
- Cascading charges ignored. Correcting the fee but not the late fee, interest, and GST on them leaves MAD overstated in later months, so DPD persists. List every derived charge in the request.
- Status, not just DPD, is wrong. If the card was blocked or closed after the DPD, the report may show written-off or settled. That needs a status correction, which is a separate item in the dispute.
- Duplicate or mismatched account rows. A migrated or reissued card can create two entries. Disputing one leaves the other unchanged. Dispute each row.
- Co-branded or partner cards. The reporting entity is the issuing bank or NBFC, not the retail partner. Complaints sent to the partner do not start the issuer’s 21-day clock.
- Compensation denied or delayed. Compensation is counted from the first complaint to the lender or bureau. Verbal complaints without a ticket number are hard to prove. Always keep written proof of the filing date, and supply bank account details so the credit can be made.
- Score does not recover immediately. Scores recalculate on the next bureau cycle, and new hard enquiries made during the disputed period still count. Wait for the corrected report date before judging the result.
- Rules change. The thresholds and timelines above come from RBI’s credit-information directions as of October 2026. This is procedural information, not legal advice. Check the current RBI Master Direction on credit information reporting before quoting clause numbers in a complaint.