We report on the temperature dependent Raman scattering studies of polycrystalline HoCr1 − xFexO3 (x = 0 and 0.5) compounds. No signature of phonon mode related to structural phase transition is evident in the investigated temperature range in both the compounds. The thermal evolution of phonon spectra indicates a deviation of B3g(3) mode from the expected anharmonic behaviour below magnetic ordering temperature TN in HoCrO3 compound. This behaviour is attributed to spin–phonon coupling, which is due to the modulation of super exchange integral by lattice vibration. On the other hand, the anomalous behaviour of Ag mode and its line-width around magnetic ordering in HoCr0.5Fe0.5O3 compound suggest the spin–phonon coupling. Apart from that, a clear deviation of wavenumber pertinent to B2g(1) mode suggests the possibility to observe ferroelectricity in HoCr0.5Fe0.5O3 compound. We believe that the present results would be helpful in obtaining new materials with multiferroicity near room temperature. Copyright © 2018 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.