As part of another app-banning spree, the Indian Government has banned more than 200 betting and loan apps, which are said to have ‘Chinese links‘ with an aim to protect user privacy and security. Here are the details to know.
India Bans New Set of Apps!
Prasar Bharti News Services and Digital Platforms’ Twitter account reveals that the move has been made on an ‘urgent and emergency basis‘ by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) as directed by the Ministry of Home Affairs.
This has taken place under Section 69 of the IT law, which aims to protect and integrity and privacy of the country. A report by ANI suggests that this move is based on several complaints filed by users who have been harassed by people behind the various mobile lending apps due to non-payment of debts. The apps are said to lure people into availing of loans but charged huge interest, often causing a failure to repay.
This has also led people into committing suicide, following which the MHA even conducted an investigation of 28 loan apps six months ago. It was found that 94 loan apps were working through third-party links.
The decision to ban betting and loan apps in India comes after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) recently released some new guidelines for digital lending firms. These guidelines restrict lending firms from increasing users’ credit limits without their permission and require lending apps to take permission before acquiring any data, among other things.
However, there’s no word on the names of the banned apps. Neither MeitY nor the Ministry of Home Affairs has commented on this.
For those who don’t know, this isn’t the first time India has banned apps, which have been linked to China. In June 2020, the government began banning apps like TikTok. It eventually banned more than 100 apps like PUBG Mobile, WeChat, and more, with the list continuing to grow in the same year. And even last year, there was a ban on over 50 apps like Garena Free Fire, Beauty Camera, Viva Video Editor, App Lock, and more.
We should get more details on this. So, stay tuned, and do share your thoughts on this in the comments below.
