New Delhi, Aug. 7 -- The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has introduced a comprehensive loan recovery framework to protect borrowers from harassment while ensuring fair recovery practices by banks and regulated lenders.

Effective 1 January 2027, the new guidelines lay down detailed rules governing how lenders and recovery agents can communicate with borrowers, conduct field visits, and even use technology to recover dues. The framework also formally regulates the remote locking of financed smartphones, tablets and laptops in the event of prolonged loan defaults.

Under the revised norms, recovery-related calls and visits will generally be permitted only between 8 AM and 7 PM. Any communication beyond these hours will require the borrower's p...