Yes, but not to pressure you or to tell them about your debt. From 1 January 2027, RBI directions issued on 6 August 2026 treat harassing a borrower’s family, relatives, referees, friends or colleagues as a harsh recovery practice, and bar disclosing the debt to third parties, as The Federal and Agrud Partners report them.
Neither report read here describes a blanket ban on every call to a relative. The directions target contact used as pressure or embarrassment, and they are not yet in force: this piece describes the regime that starts on 1 January 2027, not the one that applies today.
Can loan recovery agents call my relatives in India?
The RBI’s own copy of the directions was not read here, so every rule here is as reported. The Federal’s report of 7 August 2026 says agents and bank staff “shall not engage in any harsh methods”, and that the regulator cautions against harassing borrowers, their family members, relatives, referees, friends or colleagues. Agrud Partners, a law firm, reads the same text as listing “contacting the borrower’s relatives, friends, or co-workers to exert pressure or cause embarrassment” as a prohibited practice, alongside disclosing the borrower’s debt status on social media or to third parties.
The verb matters. Both reports describe harassment and pressure, not every phone call. A relative who picks up the phone is not owed silence under anything this desk read; they are owed a call that does not threaten, shame or reveal the loan.
Scope matters too. Agrud says the Fourth Amendment Directions cover commercial banks other than small finance banks, payments banks, regional rural banks and local area banks, with parallel directions for NBFCs and housing finance companies issued the same day. Nothing read here extends them to a lender outside the RBI’s regulated entities.
Who an agent may contact, row by row
This desk read four pages on 3 October 2026: The Federal’s report, Agrud Partners’ summary, Bajaj Finserv’s page on RBI guidelines for recovery agents, and Google Play’s Personal Loans policy. Where a page is silent, the cell says so.
| Who | 2026 directions, from 1 January 2027 (as reported) | Bajaj Finserv’s own page | Google Play Personal Loans policy |
|---|---|---|---|
| Co-borrower or guarantor | Not named in the portions of the two reports read | One FAQ answer names them as the only people besides the borrower an agent may contact | The page read does not state |
| Named reference (referee) | Harassing referees listed as harsh (The Federal) | Not named; its FAQ excludes anyone not a co-borrower or guarantor | The page read does not state |
| Relative or friend | Harassing them, or contacting them to pressure or embarrass, is barred | No loan details without explicit borrower consent | The page read does not state |
| Colleague or employer | Harassing colleagues, or contacting co-workers to pressure, is barred | No loan details without explicit borrower consent | The page read does not state |
| Phone contact list | Disclosing debt to third parties is barred (Agrud) | The page read does not state | Loan apps may not request READ_CONTACTS |
What does a lender’s own page say about family?
Bajaj Finserv’s page goes further than either report, and it is not consistent with itself. Its privacy section says agents “must not disclose loan details to family members or colleagues without explicit borrower consent”, and its worked example says an agent who misses a borrower on a visit must reschedule rather than contact family members. One FAQ answer repeats the consent rule. Another says contacting family is a violation and that agents are prohibited from contacting anyone who is not an official co-borrower or guarantor.
The first reading allows contact with consent; the second allows none outside the loan’s parties. These are the lender’s own words about its own agents, presented on a page titled for RBI guidelines; they are not the RBI’s text. The same page lists Sundays and holidays as days with no contact, a line that appears in neither report of the directions read here.
Can a recovery agent call my office or colleagues?
Not to pressure you. Both reports name colleagues or co-workers among the people the directions protect, and Bajaj’s page bars disclosure to colleagues without consent. The workplace also appears in the visiting rules: The Federal reports that an agent can visit a borrower’s home or workplace only where no meeting place was chosen or the borrower repeatedly fails to appear. Our piece on whether an agent can come to your home covers that rule, and the hours that bind every call are in what time a recovery agent can call you.
Why a loan app should not have your contact list
The calls that reach a borrower’s whole phonebook usually start with an app, not a bank. Google Play’s policy says personal loan apps “are prohibited from accessing sensitive data, such as photos and contacts”, names READ_CONTACTS among the prohibited permissions, and in India lets only apps on the RBI’s list of digital lending apps deployed by regulated entities submit personal loan apps. That binds apps distributed on Play; it is not evidence that no lender holds contact data. We set out the permission rule in full in can a loan app access my contacts.
What to do if relatives are being called
Write down who was called, when, and what was said, and ask those people for screenshots. Complain to the lender in writing: Bajaj’s page names its portal or app as its grievance route, and other lenders publish their own. For an NBFC, the next step inside the lender is covered in the NBFC Internal Ombudsman.
Questions borrowers ask
Can recovery agents call my references?
Not to pressure them. The Federal’s report of the 2026 directions lists harassing referees alongside family and friends, and Agrud Partners lists contacting relatives, friends or co-workers to exert pressure as prohibited, both from 1 January 2027. Neither report read here sets out what a named reference has agreed to, and Bajaj Finserv’s own page goes further, naming only an official co-borrower or guarantor as someone an agent may contact.
Can a loan recovery agent disclose my loan to relatives?
Agrud Partners reports that the 2026 directions treat disclosing a borrower’s debt status on social media or to third parties as a prohibited harsh practice from 1 January 2027. Bajaj Finserv’s recovery-agent page says agents must not disclose loan details to family members or colleagues without the borrower’s explicit consent. Consent is the lender’s own condition; the reports read do not describe one.
Is a reference liable to pay the loan in India?
None of the pages this desk read on 3 October 2026 says whether a reference is liable, so we will not answer that on our own authority. What the lender page read does show is the line it draws: Bajaj Finserv treats an official co-borrower or guarantor as a party to the loan an agent may contact. If a collector tells a reference they owe the money, ask for that in writing and take legal advice.
What to do if a loan app calls my contacts?
First check whether the app should hold your contacts at all. Google Play’s Personal Loans policy prohibits the READ_CONTACTS permission for loan apps, and in India admits only apps on the RBI’s list of digital lending apps. Keep screenshots and call logs from the people contacted, complain to the lender named in your loan agreement. A lender you cannot identify is a warning in itself.
None of this is legal or financial advice. A debt is still owed when the collector breaks the rules, and the rules protect the people around a borrower, not the loan. Borrow only from a lender you can verify with the regulator directly, and keep a record of every call made to someone who never signed for the debt.