Google removed 2,200 fraudulent loan apps from Play Store: MoS Finance

The government is constantly engaged with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and other regulators and stakeholders concerned to control fraudulent loan apps, Minister of State for Finance Bhagwat K Karad said in a written reply to Rajya Sabha.

“As per the information received from MeitY (Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology), during April 2021-July 2022, Google had reviewed approximately 3,500 to 4,000 loan apps and suspended/removed over 2,500 loan apps from its Play Store,” he said.

Similarly, he said, during September 2022-August 2023, over 2,200 loan apps were removed from the Google Play Store.

“Further, Google has updated its policy regarding enforcement of loan apps on the Play Store and only those apps are allowed on the Play Store which are published by Regulated Entities (REs) or those working in partnership with REs. It has also deployed additional policy requirements with strict enforcement actions for loan apps in India,” he said.

The Reserve Bank has issued regulatory guidelines on digital lending, which aims at firming up the regulatory framework for digital lending, while enhancing customer protection and making the digital lending ecosystem safe and sound, he said.

The Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C), Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has been proactively analysing the digital lending apps on a continuous basis, he said.

In order to facilitate the citizens to report cyber incidents, including illegal loan apps, he said, MHA has launched a National Cybercrime Reporting Portal (www.cybercrime.gov.in) as well as a National Cybercrime Helpline number `1930`.