Ten operating metrics every recovery head should track
The dashboard we wish we had a decade ago — ten metrics that distinguish a well-run recovery operation from a busy one.
Recovery operations get measured by the wrong number — cash collected this month. It is the result, not the operation. Here are ten metrics we run on every portfolio. None of them are revolutionary; the discipline is in tracking them weekly and acting on the deltas.
1. Days to first notice (DTFN)
From NPA classification to a served Section 13(2) notice. Industry median: 47 days. Top quartile: under 18. Anything over 30 days is operational drag, not legal complexity.
2. Notice-to-possession (NTP)
From 13(2) service to 13(4) possession. Median 198 days, best-in-class under 130. Obsess over the long tail — every file beyond 250 days is usually a representation reply that was missed or a Section 14 affidavit that was rejected once and never refiled.
3. Possession-to-sale (PTS)
From 13(4) possession to first auction. Median 92 days. The hidden lever here is valuation report turnaround — empanelled valuers with SLAs cut PTS by 25–30%.
4. Auction realisation ratio
Final sale price as a percentage of reserve price. Target above 95% in healthy markets. Below 80% means reserve was set wrong, or the marketing of the asset was thin, or both.
5. First-attempt sale rate
Percentage of assets sold at the first auction. Track separately for residential, commercial, and industrial. Two failed auctions on the same asset is an operational problem, not a market one.
6. Recovery rate by vintage
Cumulative recovery as a share of principal outstanding, sliced by NPA vintage. Bucket 0–12, 12–24, 24–36, 36+. The 24–36 bucket is the truth-teller — it shows whether your second-year follow-through is real.
7. Litigation density
Files with at least one active litigation (DRT, writ, civil) as a percentage of total active. A density above 20% usually points to issues at notice stage rather than borrower behaviour.
8. Settlement-to-realisation ratio
Of files settled out of court, what percentage of agreed settlement actually got collected within 60 days of the OTS letter. Below 70% means your settlement triage is too lenient.
9. Cost-to-recover
All-in recovery cost per rupee recovered, including legal, valuation, publication, and internal time. A defensible number is 6–9 paise per rupee. Anything above 12 paise is leakage worth investigating.
10. Throughput per recovery officer
Closed files per officer per quarter, weighted by file complexity. Healthy teams sit at 8–14. The point is not raw productivity — it is identifying officers stuck on a few hard files for too long.
Track these weekly, post them where the team can see them, and let the deltas drive the agenda. Recovery is the rare function where what gets measured really does get done.