The Gujarat High Court has served a notice to a cooperative bank in Rajkot and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) after a man discovered his CIBIL score had taken a nosedive, all because of a case of mistaken identity. The culprit? The bank had been sending him notices meant for someone else with the same name—his namesake—who had guaranteed two loans.
Pravinbhai Mohanbhai Rathod, 40, a customer of Rajkot Nagrik Sahkari Bank Ltd., found himself caught in this name-game debacle. Between February and October 2019, the bank sent him multiple notices demanding repayment for loans taken by Alpesh Baraiya and Sonalben Vaghela. Apparently, Rathod’s namesake was the guarantor for these loans, and when the original borrowers defaulted, the bank mistakenly decided Rathod, with his very similar name, should foot the bill.
Rathod promptly told the bank he had never signed as a guarantor for any loans and filed a complaint with the Reserve Bank of India, hoping to untangle the mess. The bank, admitting its error, responded in August 2019, confirming there was indeed another Pravinbhai Mohanbhai Rathod who had guaranteed the loans. The bank promised to fix the issue and stop sending him any more wrongly addressed notices.
Fast forward to January 2025, Rathod’s CIBIL score, once a healthy 750, plunged to a pitiful 486 because of this mix-up. His loan application for Rs 6 lakh under a government scheme was rejected, thanks to the bank’s blunder. So, Rathod took the matter to the High Court, arguing that he was unfairly suffering due to the bank’s mistake.
Justice Aniruddha Mayee, now part of this drama, has issued a notice and scheduled the next hearing for April 11.
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