Test what you can afford before you apply
Example values only. Replace them with your own figures.
A loan is affordable when the EMI fits after real expenses, not just after the lender's FOIR maths. Keep an emergency buffer before you commit.
Affordability is stricter than eligibility, on purpose
A lender’s eligibility test uses FOIR, which ignores your actual spending: it assumes you can hand over 50% of income regardless of your rent, your children’s fees or the support you send home. Affordability starts from the opposite end, your real monthly cash flow. The two answers can differ widely: a borrower paying ₹22,000 rent in Gurugram and one living in a family home in Jaipur have identical FOIR capacity on the same salary but very different safe EMIs. When the eligibility number is higher than the affordability number, and it usually is, trust the lower one.
The 10% buffer this tool holds back is deliberate. Personal loan defaults rarely come from the EMI itself; they come from the EMI plus a motorcycle repair, a medical bill and a festival month landing together. A buffer converts those months from missed-EMI events, which cost penal charges and roughly 50 to 100 credit score points, into mere tight months.
If the comfortable EMI is too small for your need
You have four honest levers. Lengthen the tenure, accepting the extra interest the EMI calculator will show you. Reduce the amount by funding part of the need from savings. Lower the rate by improving your credit score, comparing lenders on APR or choosing a secured alternative such as a gold loan or loan against fixed deposit. Or close an existing EMI first, which frees capacity rupee for rupee. What rarely ends well is forcing the number: borrowing at the FOIR ceiling, taking a second app-based loan to cover the first, or treating the credit card as the buffer. Check what lenders will actually approve with the eligibility calculator, then apply once, well-prepared, with the documents checklist.
Affordability calculator: frequently asked questions
What percentage of salary is a safe EMI?
A widely used personal-finance rule keeps all EMIs within 30 to 40 percent of net income, comfortably below the 50 to 55 percent lenders may permit. But percentages mislead at both ends of the income scale; computing from actual expenses with a buffer, as this calculator does, is more honest than any flat percentage.
Why does this show less than the bank offered me?
The bank tests FOIR, which ignores your actual rent, fees and household costs. This tool subtracts them and keeps a 10% buffer. A pre-approved offer bigger than your comfortable EMI is not a compliment; it is a ceiling the lender is willing to let you hit.
Should I count my spouse's income?
Only if the spouse is a co-applicant on the loan and genuinely shares the EMI. If the loan is in your name alone, qualifying it on household income but repaying from one salary removes exactly the buffer this calculator exists to protect.
What expenses should go in the fixed expenses box?
Everything that recurs and cannot be skipped in a bad month: rent or maintenance, utilities, school and tuition fees, insurance premiums, fuel and commute, groceries at their normal level, and money you send family. Leave out discretionary spending you could genuinely pause, and leave out existing EMIs, which have their own box.
Official sources and further reading
These guides are written from Reserve Bank of India rules and official scheme pages. Rules, rates and scheme terms change, so check the current position on these sites and in your lender's Key Fact Statement before you apply.
- RBI: Key Facts Statement (KFS) for loans and advances. The Reserve Bank of India notification that tells lenders to give every borrower a plain-language statement of the full cost of a loan.
- RBI Complaint Management System. Where to take a complaint against a bank, NBFC or other regulated lender if the lender does not resolve it.
- RBI (Pre-payment Charges on Loans) Directions, 2025. Bars pre-payment charges on floating-rate loans taken by individuals for non-business purposes, for loans sanctioned or renewed from 1 January 2026.
- Reserve Bank - Integrated Ombudsman Scheme, 2021. The single complaint scheme for customers of banks, NBFCs and other RBI-regulated lenders.
- RBI: Free Annual Credit Report to Individuals. Credit bureaus must give you one free full credit report with score every calendar year.
- RBI Financial Education. Consumer guidance from the Reserve Bank of India on borrowing, fraud and your rights as a customer.
Edited by Hemant Kumar. Rates on this site are indicative ranges, not offers.
This page is general information, not personalised financial advice and not an offer. Rates, fees and eligibility shown are indicative ranges based on general market practice in India and vary by lender and applicant. Confirm the exact figures in the lender's Key Fact Statement and sanction letter before you sign.