Credit information disputes and arbitration: borrower claims over reported data are outside Section 18's dispute-resolution mechanism.

The dispute-resolution mechanism under Section 18 of the Credit Information Companies (Regulation) Act, 2005 applies only to disputes arising from matters relating to the business of credit information and only where the Act provides no other remedy. A borrower's dispute with a credit institution over the correctness or furnishing of credit information to a credit information company is not, by itself, a dispute relating to that business. On that construction, conciliation or arbitration under Section 18 read with Section 11(6) of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 is unavailable for such a dispute, and a request for appointment of an arbitrator is not maintainable.

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Issues: Whether a dispute between a borrower and a credit institution concerning the credit information supplied to a credit information company can be referred to conciliation or arbitration under Section 18 of the Credit Information Companies (Regulation) Act, 2005 read with Section 11(6) of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996.

Analysis: The statutory scheme of the Credit Information Companies (Regulation) Act, 2005 shows that a credit information company carries on business only in relation to credit information collected, processed and collated from its member credit institutions and then supplied to specified users. Section 18 provides a dispute-resolution mechanism only for disputes arising on matters relating to the business of credit information and only where no other remedy is provided under the Act. A dispute between a borrower and a credit institution regarding the correctness or furnishing of such information is not, by itself, a dispute relating to the business of credit information. The mechanism under Section 18 is therefore not available for such a dispute.

Conclusion: The request for appointment of an arbitrator was not maintainable under Section 18 of the Act and the application failed.

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