Application rejected for a credit score of "-1" when the real score was above 800

Bank · Credit card application · credit-card application compensation credit-report

Complaint no.: N202526016000409
Against: IndusInd Bank
Filed: 5 Apr 2025
Closed: 1 Sep 2025
Time taken: 149 days
Scheme: RB-IOS 2021
Closure clause: 14(9)(b) r/w 3(1)(h)
Did it help?: Helped
Compensation: ₹1,000

What happened

A card application was rejected. The only reason given was "CIBIL rule". My score was above 800.

What I asked the Ombudsman for

The actual reason for rejection, and an explanation of how a score above 800 became "-1".

What the entity said

Across three replies the bank said the minimum score was 700 and mine was "1", then that it was "-1" in its system at the time of application. The full reasoning reached me only on 9 May 2025, after the Ombudsman complaint.

My reply to the entity's response

I answered the bank's three responses point by point: no person has a score of 1 or -1, and here is my report. The office came back to the bank with further questions.

Did the closure deal with it? Yes.

What the Ombudsman decided

Rejection of credit is a commercial decision and the RBI will not interfere with it. But the bank's first reply said only "CIBIL rule" and did not give specific reasons in time. That was a service deficiency. The bank was advised to pay ₹1,000 for mental distress and inconvenience, and did so on 29 August 2025.

Helped

Did the Ombudsman help?

Yes, on the point that mattered: it found a deficiency in the vague reason and said so in terms. It never asked why the bank saw "-1". That turned out to be a duplicate profile at the bureau, which I found a year later.

What I took from it

This is the same situation I lost against another bank a year earlier. The difference was the framing: not "they rejected me" but "they did not give me a specific written reason". I also attached my actual credit report to show the bank's number was wrong.

Related complaints

Card application declined with no reason given (HDFC Bank, 2024) Not maintainable

Summarised from the RBI closure letter and my own correspondence. Names of individuals, account numbers and reference numbers other than the complaint number have been removed.