RBI to set up Public Credit Registry (PCR) to check loan defaults

In a bid to check loan defaults, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has considered the recommendations of YM Deosthalee-headed High Level Task Force and will set up a Public Credit Registry (PCR) in a modular and phased manner. The PCR is an information repository that collates all loan information of individuals and corporate borrowers. A credit repository will help banks distinguish between a bad and a good borrower and accordingly offer attractive interest rates to good borrowers and higher interest rates to bad borrowers. The PCR will be the single point of mandatory reporting for all material events for each loan, notwithstanding any threshold in the loan amount or type of borrower. Thereby, the PCR will serve as a registry of all credit contracts, duly verified by reporting institutions, for all lending in India and any lending by an Indian institution to a company incorporated in India.