Google bans 2,000 Personal Loan Apps from its Play Store on security grounds

Google has said it has removed nearly 2,000 personal loan apps from its Play Store in India on security grounds. Google noted that 2,000 apps represent more than half of the total apps in the lending category. The apps have been removed since the beginning of the year. Google shifted its focus to lending applications in India after the Reserve Bank of India introduced a regulatory framework to ban unregulated lending activities to save borrowers from harassment, blackmail and predatory lending.

Speaking about the new Play Store guidelines, Google Asia-Pacific Senior Director and Head of Trust and Safety Saikat Mitra said: "Supported by local research and feedback from our stakeholders, we have been updating the Google Play policies associated with personal loan apps in India." He further added that the apps threatened Indian users, so the company decided to remove them after consulting with law enforcement authorities.

Mitra also revealed that apps are reviewed on the Google Play Store when they are uploaded, but in the case of loaner apps, a lot of criminal activity outside the internet world was also reported. Several interns have reported cases of harassment and blackmail in loan repayments.

Mitra added that India currently does not have government-certified apps. Loan apps that may not look harmful can threaten users in the real world. However, he does not favour a blanket ban over personal lending apps as he believes there are good apps too. Especially after the pandemic and the job losses, people do need access to credit. He said there are dozens of good apps for every bad loan app.