In the last few years, there was a flood of quick loan apps on the Google Play Store, but most of them were doing the work of wrongly giving and recovering loans without verification.
Taking action on thousands of such apps, Google removed about 3500 loan apps from Play Store in India and its information is given in the company’s Play Protect report. It has been revealed that the reason for the action taken on these apps in the year 2022 was due to non-compliance of Play Store rules by the apps, but the matter is not only that.
Users used to rely on such apps in case of need of money and these apps were giving loans at arbitrary interest rates. Not only this, in case of non-payment of loans taken by these apps, cases like threatening many users and even suicide on behalf of some users had come to the fore. The Government of India and the Reserve Bank of India had also taken action against these apps to protect users from unsafe and illegal banking practices.
Google had changed the policy
In the year 2021, its policy related to financial services in India was updated by Google, which also applies to personal loan apps. After this policy came into force in September 2021, it became mandatory for app developers to confirm whether they have received a license from the Reserve Bank of India or not. These developers were asked to submit a copy of the license. In the event of not being able to do so, Google had asked to take action against them and remove the app.
Last year tightened the screws on apps
Last year, in 2022, while further improving and changing the existing rules, Google placed several conditions in front of developers who are offering loan apps in partnership with non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) and banks. The developers were asked to disclose the names of their partner banks and NBFCs. Along with this, they were also asked to share the links of those websites where they have been listed with their official agents. Thousands of apps were affected by this change.
Reliance on fake loan apps will be over
Before taking a loan from any kind of app, it is necessary to be trustworthy and the apps should be tested. You can look up the name of the app developer and research about it, as well as see reviews from other users. Both Google and Apple are realizing the dangers associated with such unofficial apps and ensuring that only official apps become a part of the platforms. Apps access users’ sensitive data and ask for documents before giving loans, in such a situation, users can be harmed through them.
