Customer’s company credit report will help decide credit terms

I run a small textile manufacturing business and have previously experienced repayment issues when partners and customers purchase on credit but are unable to pay on time. Can I access credit reports of these customers and their businesses to identify which customers are more likely to pay on time?
—Nitin Saxena
Cibil has now started providing company credit reports (CCRs) to business entities for a fee. So while you can access your own company’s credit report, you cannot access information on any other company from Cibil. However, you can always ask your business partners and customers to access and provide their company’s credit report to you for deciding on partnership and credit terms.
A company credit information report (CCR) provides in depth view of the banking credit obligations and payment behavior of the business. This information can provide an indication of the likelihood of the business to make timely payments on their dues and obligations.  It is always beneficial to understand the obligations of your customer especially when doing business on credit. Most businesses have debt and business credit exposure (payables). The CCR provides you with a complete snapshot of a business’s debt exposure. With this information you can judge the customer’s payment capacity and decide on the credit terms accordingly, to avoid losses.

Who can access company credit information reports?
—Simi Agarwal
Complying with the privacy laws, Cibil offers CCIRs only to banks and to business entities, registered in India, who request for their own companies’ credit report.

— The writer is senior vice president - consumer relations, Cibil (www.cibil.com) and can be reached at creditwise@cibil.com