How to Track NPA and DPD: A Practical Guide for NBFC Managers

NPA tracking is not optional for an NBFC — it is a regulatory requirement. But many smaller NBFCs either track it incorrectly or track it too late. Here's what branch managers actually need to know.

DPD (Days Past Due): DPD is the number of days an instalment is overdue. If a payment was due on May 1st and today is May 17th, the DPD is 16. Your system should compute this automatically every day.

RBI DPD Buckets: 0 DPD = current. 1–30 DPD = watch. 31–90 DPD = sub-standard (NPA threshold approaching). 90+ DPD = NPA (Non-Performing Asset). Once an account crosses 90 DPD, it is classified as NPA — the entire outstanding balance, not just the overdue instalment.

Provisioning Requirements: Standard assets: 0.25% provisioning. Sub-standard: 10%. Doubtful (NPA > 12 months): 20–50%. Loss assets: 100%. This affects your P&L and capital adequacy. Incorrect classification results in under-provisioning — a serious RBI finding.

What your dashboard should show: Every morning, your branch manager should see: accounts entering 30 DPD today (escalate to supervisor), accounts at 60+ DPD (start NPA prevention workflow), and accounts already classified NPA (active recovery actions only).

Common mistakes: (1) Tracking DPD by month instead of by day — you miss 30-day thresholds. (2) Not flagging after a part payment — if a customer pays ₹500 of a ₹2,000 instalment, the account is still overdue. (3) Not updating DPD when a restructure is agreed — restructured accounts have different rules.

A good lending platform computes DPD every night, updates bucket classifications automatically, and sends collection task assignments to the right agent before 9 AM. This is table stakes — not a premium feature.