What Is FOIR in a Personal Loan? (And Why It Decides Your Eligibility)

You've got a great CIBIL score and steady income — but your personal-loan application still comes back with a lower amount than you asked for. The reason is almost always FOIR: the Fixed Obligation to Income Ratio, one of the two or three most important numbers any Indian lender looks at.

What FOIR means

FOIR is the share of your monthly income that already goes toward fixed obligations — existing EMIs, credit-card minimum-dues, rent (some lenders count it), insurance premiums. Lenders cap the total FOIR (including the new EMI you're applying for) at 50%–65%, depending on income band.

How to calculate your FOIR

Formula: FOIR = (total monthly fixed obligations ÷ monthly net income) × 100.

• Monthly income: ₹60,000 (net take-home).
• Home-loan EMI: ₹15,000.
• Car-loan EMI: ₹8,000.
• Credit-card minimum dues: ₹2,000.
• Total obligations: ₹25,000 → FOIR = 25,000 ÷ 60,000 = 41.7%.

If the lender's cap is 55%, you have room for a new EMI of up to (55% × 60,000) − 25,000 = ₹8,000 per month. On an 18-month personal loan at 2% per month, that supports a loan of roughly ₹1,20,000 — regardless of how much you asked for.

Typical FOIR caps by income band

• Under ₹25,000/month: 40%–45% cap.
• ₹25,000–₹50,000/month: 50%–55% cap.
• ₹50,000–₹1,00,000/month: 55%–60% cap.
• Above ₹1,00,000/month: up to 65% cap.

Higher incomes get higher caps because absolute rupees left over for living expenses are larger.

How to improve your FOIR before applying

• Close a small existing loan first — even a ₹3,000/month EMI closure frees room for a bigger new loan.
• Pay down credit-card balances so the reported minimum-due drops.
• Wait for a salary hike to reset the ratio; a 10% raise directly widens your borrowing capacity.
• Ask for a longer tenure on the new loan — a longer tenure means a smaller EMI and a smaller FOIR impact.
• Add a co-applicant (usually a spouse) with independent income; the combined income raises the ceiling.

How Privena calculates FOIR

Our AI decisioning engine reads your bank statement and identifies recurring EMIs, credit-card debits, insurance premiums and rent outflows automatically. You don't have to fill in a form — the engine calculates FOIR from real cash flow. This is why applicants sometimes get a higher approved amount than they expected: our model spots repaid loans and closed obligations that older bureau data hasn't caught up with.

Ready to see your maximum eligible loan?

Start on our Apply page. The soft eligibility check shows exactly what amount and tenure you qualify for — without touching your CIBIL score.