What happens when a payment is missed
If an EMI is not paid in full on its due date, your loan account is marked overdue. If it stays overdue, RBI rules require us to classify it as a Special Mention Account (SMA) and then a Non-Performing Asset (NPA). This page explains each stage with examples.
Date of overdue
Any amount due on your loan, whether principal, interest or any charge, that is not paid by its due date is overdue. The date on which it was due is the date of overdue.
Paying part of an EMI does not stop the account from being overdue. The account stays overdue until the full amount due has been paid.
Example. Ramesh's quarterly EMI of ₹36,000 is due on 15 July. He pays ₹30,000 on 15 July. ₹6,000 is still unpaid, so his account is overdue from 15 July until he pays that ₹6,000.
SMA and NPA stages
The classification depends on how many days the oldest unpaid amount has been continuously overdue.
SMA and NPA status is reported to credit information companies and can affect your credit score and your ability to borrow in the future.
The day-end process
Our systems classify loan accounts automatically at the end of every day, as part of a day-end process. The SMA or NPA date is the calendar date for which that day-end process is run.
So if the full amount due is not received before the day-end process runs on the due date, the account is overdue from that same date.
Example. A loan's due date is 31 March and the full dues are not received before the day-end process for 31 March. The date of overdue is 31 March. If the account stays overdue, it is tagged:
- SMA-1 in the day-end process on 30 April, after 30 days of being continuously overdue
- SMA-2 in the day-end process on 30 May
- NPA in the day-end process on 29 June
Check your dates
Pick the date an EMI fell due. If it stays unpaid, these are the dates on which your account would be classified.
Upgrading your account
An account in SMA returns to normal once all overdue amounts are paid.
An account classified as NPA is upgraded to standard only when the entire arrears of interest and principal are paid. Paying only part of the arrears does not upgrade the account.
Example. Sunita's account became NPA with ₹48,000 in arrears. She pays ₹30,000 in September. Her account remains NPA. In October she pays the remaining ₹18,000, and her account is upgraded to standard.
