Digital Loans Up 28%: Is Your ₹18K EMI Too Risky?

India's digital lenders now hold ₹1.54 lakh crore in loans, growing 28% in a year. 70% of all personal loans now come from digital apps. Average loan size jumped 15% to ₹18,802 — meaning more Indians are borrowing bigger amounts online, often without fully reading the fine print.

Here's what happened: India's digital NBFC loan book reached ₹1.54 lakh crore, growing 28% year-on-year, driven almost entirely by personal loans.. Digital lenders now originate 70% of all personal loan volumes in India, making them the dominant channel for retail credit.. Average personal loan ticket size from digital lenders rose 15% to ₹18,802, signalling borrowers are taking on larger unsecured debt online..

What you should do: Check your lender's name on RBI's official NBFC register at rbi.org.in before accepting any digital loan offer — unregistered apps have no legal obligation to cap interest rates.. Compare the APR (Annual Percentage Rate), not just the interest rate — digital loans often bundle processing fees, insurance add-ons, and GST that push real cost well above the advertised rate.. If you already have a digital personal loan, check your loan agreement for prepayment charges — many digital NBFCs levy 2–5% penalty, making early closure expensive..

RBI mandates that all regulated digital lenders issue a Key Fact Statement (KFS) before loan disbursal — if your app skips this step, you can report it to Sachet (sachet.rbi.org.in) immediately.