for credit institutions to ensure the quality and timeliness of data submitted to the cics. 14. consumer education and awareness : it is vital for consumers to understand the importance of maintaining financial discipline and paying their loan emis and credit card dues regularly. cics have an important role to play in this regard. increased awareness by individuals, smes and mfi borrowers on consequences of default in repayment of loans leading to lowering of their credit scores and possibly denial of new loans would lead to better credit discipline and also prevent deterioration in the asset quality of banks. i am aware that cibil and other cics are working on several consumer education programs to drive awareness amongst consumers on concepts relate to credit information. i also understand that cics have been partnering with the consumer education cells of banks and other credit institutions. this partnership will be highly effective in reaching out to consumers across geographies and sensitizing them on the necessity of maintaining good credit discipline. i would like to urge the cics that such an awareness campaign needs to be specifically focussed on new generation, even before they enter into a credit relationship, about the long lasting effect and consequences of credit history. in terms of developing a credit culture amongst the future generation, the most important financial product is the education loan. with an npa percentage of over 7. 54 % ( for loans below 4 lakh ) as on 31st march 2014, it is clear that the borrowers are oblivious of the consequences of nonrepayment on their credit track record. can the cics and banks look at a “ catch “ em young ” policy for credit counselling and developing a credit culture? can the cics provide a periodic non - chargeable credit report to the student loanees? bis central bankers ’ speeches 15. speedier and transparent dispute resolution mechanism : good customer service through speedier and transparent dispute resolution mechanism has been the thrust of the reserve bank. of late, we have been receiving many disputes from consumers related to their credit information reports. i would urge cibil and other cics to invest in processes and technologies for speedier resolution of customer disputes. another aspect about these disputes actually relates to the banks. these disputes are related to non - updation of data and / or incorrect submission of data by member banks. in many of these cases, the cic has not been able to receive timely response from the banks even after following up regularly. this causes significant delay in redressing the customers ’ disputes.

: ( a ) positive data from telecom companies and electric utilities would help in assessing credit worthiness of small and medium borrowers in rural, hilly and tribal areas presently not having access to banking credit and thereby extend penetration of banking in india. ( b ) alternate data also improves the performance of analytical models that help lenders better predict the “ ability to pay ”, as a means of guarding against consumer overindebtedness. doing business 2015, world bank bis central bankers ’ speeches ( c ) globally, electric utilities and telecom companies that report payment records to credit bureaus have evidenced improved consumer payment behavior with regard to their bills. ( d ) would help in widening and deepening the database of cics on individuals for the purpose of “ know your customers ” verification by financial institutions. 20. ficci, bcg and iba in their paper on digital banking 3 have inter alia stated that introduction of periodic utility bill payments ( electricity, telecom ) and periodic insurance premium payments information into information bureau records would increase the bureau coverage from current 20 per cent to almost 70 per cent and would be a major boost to credit eligibility of low ticket borrowers who are largely self - employed or in the unorganised sector. reserve bank has introduced positive data sharing in india which allows good repayment behaviour in one product to be of use in predicting behaviour of the consumer in other areas. telecom / utilities positive data is hence likely to help support making credit worthiness decisions on the segment of the population that does not have access to banking credit. 21. the committee on comprehensive financial services for small businesses and low income households ( chairman : dr. nachiket mor ) has recommended that reserve bank should constitute a working group involving the various stake holders such as trai, cerc and cics to develop a framework for sharing of data between telecom companies, electrical utilities, and credit information companies. the underlying acts, rules and regulations governing credit information companies, electric and telecom sectors need to be examined to make suitable legislative and regulatory changes for this purpose. we, in consultation with various stakeholders, are examining the feasibility of incorporating alternative data sources, viz. electric and telecom data of consumers, within the purview of credit information. 22. another area which requires attention is the need for populating member level data of self help groups ( shgs ) and joint liability groups ( jlgs ) in the database of cics. aditya puri committee deliberating on this issue considered the practical