Google has removed around 2,000 personal loans apps this year from its Play Store for violating predatory lending rules that India"s central bank has put in place. The move was announced by Google Asia-Pacific’s Senior Director and Head of Trust and Safety, Saikat Mitra, who was speaking at an event in New Delhi.
The search giant decided to pull the apps after speaking to law enforcement agencies on the matter. In the coming weeks, it will be introducing more guidelines to ensure that any personal loan apps that do get onto the Play Store have to follow more stringent guidelines. Too many personal loans apps in the country have been offering loans with dangerously high fees and lenders have been taking extreme measure to get the money back.
The update from Google is just the latest episode of the matter. In May, it was reported that personal loan apps would need to be submitted with additional proof of eligibility requirements, including a copy of their licence with the Reserve Bank of India.
It’s unclear what will happen to existing loans made to customers. TechCrunch reports that when Google last removed personal loan apps, it told the companies to give customers at least 60 days to repay what they owe, something similar could be in place this time too.
Source: TechCrunch