Google took down over 2,500 fraudulent mortgage apps from its Play Store between April 2021 and July 2022, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman reportedly claimed in a written reply to a question within the Lok Sabha Monday. The minister additionally stated that the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) had shared ‘whitelist’ of betting apps with the federal government to separate functions that function legally from people who flout pointers. Earlier this 12 months, the Indian authorities banned over 230 Chinese-linked lending apps that facilitate betting and loans following complaints of extortion and harassment.
According to Sitharaman, the federal government has been in talks with the RBI and different business stakeholders over curbing unlawful mortgage apps within the nation, a report within the Mint stated.
“Between April 2021 and July 2022, Google also reviewed approximately 3,500 to 4,000 loan lending apps and suspended or removed over 2,500 fraudulent loan apps from its Play Store,” Sitharaman was quoted as saying within the report. The subject of fraudulent mortgage apps is commonly introduced up in conferences of the Financial Stability and Development Council (FSDC), the report added.
The FM additionally stated {that a} ‘whitelist of authorized mortgage apps, ready by the RBI, had been shared with the federal government and additional despatched to Google, as effectively. The search engine large has additionally up to date its Play Store coverage on enforcement of mortgage lending apps and carried out stricter necessities for lending apps within the nation.
Back in April, Google had stated that it had acted towards greater than 3,500 mortgage apps in India for violating Play Store coverage necessities. The firm had claimed it prevented 1.43 million policy-violating apps from being revealed on Google Play, banned 173,000 unhealthy accounts, and prevented over $2 billion (almost Rs. 16,350 crore) in fraudulent and abusive transactions final 12 months.
Google’s announcement had come weeks after the Indian authorities banned over 230 mortgage lending and betting apps with Chinese hyperlinks following complaints of extortion and harassment from debtors in February. The crackdown on mortgage apps noticed 138 betting apps and 94 mortgage lending apps blocked below Section 69 of the IT Act.
In March, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) filed expenses towards fee gateway Razorpay and three Chinese-linked fintech firms, amongst others, in a cash laundering probe linked to fraudulent mortgage lending apps.
In addition to Razorpay, corporations named within the chargesheet included fintech firms Mad Elephant Network Technology Private Limited, Baryonyx Technology Private Limited and Cloud Atlas Future Technology Private Limited — all allegedly managed by Chinese nationals — and three non-banking monetary firms (NBFCs) registered with RBI.
Earlier this month, safety researchers revealed particulars of apps utilized by mortgage sharks to defraud customers, and listed the strategies utilized by the apps to bypass among the restrictions put in place on the Play Store. As many as 18 apps recognized as ‘SpyLoan’ malware had been discovered on the Play Store in 2023.
