What a credit score is

CIBIL is one of four RBI-registered bureaus, so “CIBIL score” is a bureau-specific name for the same idea. Under the RBI's directions every bureau calibrates to 300–900, but the underlying report content can differ because lenders report to bureaus on their own schedules.

No. A self-check is not a lender enquiry. The RBI gives you one free full credit report (including the score) every calendar year from each bureau, and requesting it does not affect the score.

There is no regulatory threshold — lenders set their own cut-offs and they vary by product. As bureau guidance rather than a rule: CRIF says a score above 700 is generally considered good, and CIBIL notes that 79% of loans are sanctioned to consumers scoring above 750.

Yes, in the sense that an accurate record can still be unflattering — an old settled loan or a high balance is real even if it is not representative. A dispute only fixes information that is inaccurate; it cannot argue that accurate information is unfair.