EMI Reminder Call Script for NBFCs & Lenders (India)

Most missed EMIs are not refusals. The borrower forgot the date, the salary came late, or there was not enough balance in the account the NACH mandate pulls from. A short, polite reminder call a few days before the due date fixes a large share of these cases before they become bounces, penal charges and a mark on the borrower's credit record. This guide gives you ready-to-use EMI reminder call scripts for each stage, in English, Hindi and Telugu, plus the rules on timing and tone that Indian lenders need to follow.

Why reminder calls work better than SMS alone

Lenders already send SMS and WhatsApp reminders, and many borrowers ignore them because they look like every other automated message. A call is different. The borrower hears the amount and date, can ask a question ("Is it from my SBI account or HDFC?") and can tell you there is a problem. That last part is the real value: a borrower who says "I'll pay on the 7th" gives you a promise-to-pay date your team can plan around. An SMS gives you nothing back.

The goal of a reminder call is not to pressure anyone. It is to make paying on time easy and to find the borrowers who need help early, while there is still time to sort it out.

The four calls in an EMI reminder cycle

Different stages need different words. A friendly pre-due reminder and a call after a bounce should not sound the same. A simple cycle for a monthly EMI looks like this:

When	Call type	Goal	Tone
3–5 days before due date	Pre-due reminder	Confirm amount, date and that the account has balance	Friendly, short
Due date (morning)	Due-day nudge	Last reminder before the debit	Brief, helpful
1–7 days after due date	Early overdue / bounce call	Inform about the missed payment, get a promise-to-pay date	Calm, factual, respectful
On or after the promised date	Promise-to-pay follow-up	Check payment, re-plan if needed, hand over to an officer	Polite, solution-focused

Accounts that stay unpaid beyond this early stage should move to your trained collections staff, under your recovery policy. Reminder calls are for the early, friendly part of the cycle.

EMI reminder call scripts you can use

Replace the names, amounts and dates with your own. Keep each call under a minute where possible.

1. Pre-due reminder (3–5 days before)

English: "Hello, am I speaking with Ramesh ji? This is Priya, calling from Sahaj Finance about your two-wheeler loan. Just a friendly reminder that your EMI of ₹3,250 is due on the 5th, and it will be debited from your account ending 4821. Will there be enough balance in that account by then?"

If yes: "Thank you, that's all. Have a good day."

If no: "No problem. When do you expect to have the amount? I'll note it so our team knows."

Hindi: "Namaste Ramesh ji, main Sahaj Finance se Priya bol rahi hoon. Aapke two-wheeler loan ki EMI ₹3,250 is mahine 5 tareekh ko due hai, jo aapke 4821 wale account se kategi. Kya tab tak account mein balance rahega?"

Telugu: "Namaskaram Ramesh garu, nenu Sahaj Finance nunchi Priya matladutunnanu. Mee two-wheeler loan EMI ₹3,250 ee nela 5th na due undi, mee 4821 account nunchi debit avutundi. Appatiki account lo balance untunda?"

2. Due-day nudge

"Good morning Ramesh ji, this is Priya from Sahaj Finance. Your EMI of ₹3,250 will be debited today. Please make sure the account ending 4821 has the balance. If you have already arranged it, thank you, no action needed."

3. Early overdue or bounce call (1–7 days after)

"Hello Ramesh ji, this is Priya from Sahaj Finance. I'm calling because this month's EMI of ₹3,250, due on the 5th, could not be collected from your account. Is everything all right? When would you be able to make the payment?"

Then listen. Note the date and the reason in your system. Close with: "Thank you. I've noted that you'll pay on the 9th. Our team will share the payment options with you. If anything changes, please call us on our customer care number."

Keep it factual. Do not mention penalties in a threatening way, and do not discuss the loan with anyone other than the borrower. If someone else picks up, say only: "I'm calling for Ramesh ji from Sahaj Finance. When is a good time to reach him?"

4. Promise-to-pay follow-up

"Hello Ramesh ji, Priya from Sahaj Finance. Last week you mentioned you'd pay the EMI by the 9th. I wanted to check if it's done, or if you need any help with the payment."

If the borrower describes a real hardship, such as a job loss or a medical emergency, do not push. Note it and arrange a call from a loan officer who can discuss options under your policy.

Rules to follow on every reminder call

Indian lenders operate under RBI's fair practices guidance, and RBI has long limited recovery calls to between 8 am and 7 pm. The recovery directions RBI issued in August 2026, which apply from 1 January 2027, keep that window and add requirements such as recording recovery calls and telling borrowers the call is recorded. Even where a call is only a reminder, the safest approach is to follow the same standards. Check the details with your compliance team, but in practice:

• Call between 8 am and 7 pm, unless the borrower has asked you to call at another time.
• Identify yourself and the lender at the start of every call.
• Speak only to the borrower about the loan. Never share details with family members, neighbours or colleagues.
• Use polite, respectful language. No threats, no shaming and no misleading statements about consequences.
• Do not call repeatedly in one day. One attempt and one retry is usually enough for a reminder.
• Record calls and tell the borrower that the call may be recorded.
• Use the borrower's language. A reminder in Telugu or Hindi is understood the first time; a fast English call often is not.

Reminder calls to your own borrowers about their loans are service calls, not promotions. Telecom rules on registered headers and number series still apply to how you place the calls, so read our guide to TRAI DLT rules for AI calling before you start a large campaign.

Checklist before you start a reminder campaign

• Clean data: borrower name, loan type, EMI amount, due date, last four digits of the debit account, preferred language.
• Separate lists for pre-due, due-day and overdue, each with its own script.
• A clear rule for what happens after the call: who receives promise-to-pay dates, hardship cases and wrong numbers.
• A do-not-call list for borrowers who ask not to be called again, applied across all campaigns.
• Calling hours set to 8 am–7 pm or narrower, with no calls on days your policy excludes.
• A weekly review of a sample of recordings for tone and accuracy.

Running EMI reminders with an AI voice agent

Pre-due and due-day reminders are repetitive, high-volume calls with the same structure every time, which makes them a good fit for an AI voice agent. With RANA AI, an AI employee calls your reminder list in the borrower's language (11 Indian languages, including Hindi, Telugu, Tamil and Kannada), confirms the amount and date, notes promise-to-pay dates and hands hardship cases to your team. Every call is recorded, transcribed, summarised and scored, so your officers see the outcome without listening to every call.

RANA AI only dials inside the calling hours you set (9 AM to 9 PM, Monday to Saturday, by default), so for reminder campaigns you can narrow this to 8 AM–7 PM or tighter. Anyone who asks not to be called is added to a do-not-call list automatically. Plans start at ₹4,999 a month for 400 connected minutes, and larger plans run more calls at the same time: 2 on Starter, 5 on Growth and 20 on Scale. See how lenders use it on our AI voice agent for banking, NBFC and loans page.

Keep recovery strategy, negotiation and anything beyond early reminders with your trained staff. The AI's job is to make sure no borrower misses an EMI simply because nobody reminded them.

Try it on your own reminder list

The fastest way to judge it is to hear a reminder call in your borrowers' language. Start a free RANA AI trial with 100 minutes over 14 days, paste one of the scripts above, and test it on your own phone. If you also call customers who were not your borrowers before, read how to check DND status before calling first.