Lending apps are often known to be dubious in Pakistan as well as other countries, and for good reason. Hence, it comes as no surprise that Google has just banned more than 2000 lending apps on the Play Store in India.
The report comes from MoneyControl, a business-related news outlet in India. The publisher reports that these apps have been blocked for violating Google’s Play Store policies.
Google’s head of trust and safety for the Asia Pacific region, Saikat Mitra said:
A large number of loan applicatoins have been removed from the Play Store. I would say about 50% of them were violating Google’s policies.
Google had requested owners of digital lending applications to seek permission from the Reserve Bank of India earlier this year. They were also asked to provide proof that they were only helping people get loans rather than providing loans directly.
The business publication says that there have been cases in the past where people were given loans at high-interest rates and they ended up committing suicide due to the pressure of loan payments. The report adds that borrowers were also harassed through digital applications in the past.
The companies behind these apps had various connections with China and they were also investigated by the Serious Fraud Unit and RAW.
Earlier this month, India’s External Affairs Minister Nirmala Sitharaman told the Rajya Sabha that the government is taking action against suspicious loan apps, especially those that originate outside of India.
He also said that Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will take action against the facilitators of such loan apps.
As mentioned earlier, India is not the only country plagued with such apps. Similar apps have been banned or removed from Pakistan over related cases. Many of these apps originated outside of Pakistan and were not registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP).