Expert Panel Emerges as India’s Largest Debt Resolution Platform Protecting Consumers Against Recovery Harassment

Expert Panel, a unit of Eresolution Consultancy Services Pvt Ltd, has reached a significant milestone confirming its status as India’s largest debt resolution platform for individuals and small businesses. Committed to helping people effectively manage and overcome debt-related challenges, the platform has provided debt counselling to over 35,000 individuals and successfully facilitated the resolution of debt exceeding ₹2,200 crore.

One of the most pressing issues plaguing borrowers in India is recovery harassment by third-party agents appointed by lenders. Despite clear guidelines from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on ethical recovery practices, many individuals report facing intimidation, threats, and public shaming by recovery agents—often for relatively small loan defaults.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has built its consumer‑protection framework for loan recovery over two decades—starting with the 2003 Fair‑Practices Code for lenders, through the 2006 outsourcing rules, the 2007 “model code of conduct” for recovery agents, successive Master Circulars, and, most recently, a dedicated August 2022 circular and an updated draft Master Direction issued in October 2023. Across all of these documents the same philosophy runs: recovery can be firm, but it must never cross into intimidation, privacy invasion, or public shaming, and the lending institution remains accountable for every act of its agents.

All RBI circulars forbid verbal abuse, physical threats, public shaming, intrusion on the debtor’s family or social circle, and “false or misleading representations.” Agents may not post repayment‑dues lists, seize personal effects without due legal process, or spam borrowers with morphed photographs on WhatsApp. Nonetheless cases continue to surface: borrowers’ relatives are called, neighbours are assembled to witness “naming‑and‑shaming,” and, tragically, harassment is cited in several suicide FIRs in Karnataka and Gujarat.

The 2022 Digital Lending Guidelines brought the same ethos into smartphone apps: loan disbursals and repayments must flow only between the regulated entity’s and the borrower’s bank accounts; an app cannot scrape contacts or photos without explicit need‑based consent; recovery staff may not threaten to broadcast a borrower’s contact list. A dedicated grievance‑redress officer and time‑bound complaint resolution are mandatory. Yet “contact‑list blackmail” still occurs—behaviour that squarely violates both data‑consent clauses and the long‑standing ban on intimidation.

Borrowers often do not know the rules or fear that complaining will worsen harassment; many police stations treat recovery disputes as “civil,” delaying FIRs. Meanwhile high recovery‑ratio targets and commission‑linked pay for agents push them toward short‑cuts even in regulated banks and NBFCs, as industry insiders themselves admit. RBI’s rule‑set is robust on paper: due diligence and training, strict call‑timings, bans on intimidation, data‑protection mandates, lender liability, and grievance protocols. Yet without constant board‑level monitoring, transparent incentives, and borrower legal awareness, agents still flout the very norms meant to keep collections civil. Until every recovery call and doorstep visit visibly complies with the 8 a.m.–7 p.m. rule—and until public shaming is treated as the criminal offence RBI’s circulars already imply—the gap between regulation and reality will persist.

This growing problem has led to serious mental health concerns, legal complications, and, in extreme cases, tragic consequences like suicides. Expert Panel actively works to combat these unethical practices by educating borrowers about their rights, intervening against unlawful recovery tactics, and ensuring that lenders and agents are held accountable under existing RBI norms and legal provisions.

In a recent conversation, Anurag Mehra, Director of Expert Panel, commented, “We recognize the emotional and financial toll of debt. Our mission is to deliver structured, legally sound, and empathetic solutions that help individuals resolve their debts with dignity and clarity using principles of ADR (alternate dispute resolution).”

The platform’s core offerings include:

Consumer Education – Empowering borrowers with knowledge of their rights under RBI guidelines.

Stopping Harassment – Ensuring recovery agents follow ethical and legal practices.

Negotiation Support – Facilitating direct discussions with lenders for mutually acceptable debt settlements.

Mediation & Arbitration – Offering structured dispute resolution through neutral third-party interventions.

Expert Panel is led by experienced entrepreneurs—alumni of IIT, IIM, and MIT USA—with over 30 years of experience in financial, legal, and business advisory services.