Every month, paying our utility bills seems like a task for most of us and a large chunk of our disposable income goes into that as well. There are telephone bills, internet line bills, society maintenance charges, mobile bills, gas bill and the list just goes on and on. The payment of these bills play an important part in our lives and non-payment or delay in paying these bills can have severe consequences.
Late payment might hurt soon!
As of now non-payment or a delay in paying your monthly utility bills is not a part of your CIBIL scores. However, the tables might turn soon as CIBIL, India’s largest credit bureau, is planning to include timely payment of mobile and utility bills to your credit scores. If the decision is finalised, then the late payment of your utility bills too would have an impact on your credit score.
Banking institutions and lenders would then get to see the payment history trend of all your bills and base their decision to sanction your loan accordingly.
Current factors that pinch!
It’s always good to be aware of the current factors that impact your CIBIL scores. These factors include:
- Timely payment of secured loans like Car Loan, Home Loan, Gold Loan and others
- Payment of your Credit Card bills before the due date
- On-time payment of unsecured loans like Personal Loan
As of now, only the timely payment of these loans affects your CIBIL scores, but the list may soon grow a little longer with your mobile and utility bills getting added.
Start before it’s late!
Like the popular saying goes, “It’s never too late to find your calling”, you too can get into the habit of paying all your utility bills on time before the due date in order to improve your CIBIL scores.
Here are some useful tips that might help you make those timely payments:
- Set up timely reminders for the bill dates. Try to set up a reminder at least 10 days in advance so that you can not only avoid last-minute payments but also the penalty charges that might be levied by the different utility agencies/companies.
- Opt for auto-debit facility in your bank account for regular EMIs so that the amount gets deducted directly and you can avoid last-minute payments.
- If you have a habit of forgetting things, ask a family member to help you with the dates so that the delay in payments can be avoided.
Remember last-minute payment or delay in payment for any of your utility bills would have a negative impact on your CIBIL scores very soon so start developing a good repayment record from now on!