Put under pressure after several borrowers in India committed suicide due to abusive recovery methods of loan apps on Google Play Store, the tech giant finally decided to act.

Google said on Thursday that it immediately removed from its play store those personal loan apps in India that have been found violating the user safety policies. The action was taken after the company reviewed hundreds of those personal loan apps, based on flags submitted by users and government agencies.

Google has asked the developers of the remaining identified apps to demonstrate that they comply with applicable local laws and regulations, failing which those apps will also be removed without further notice.

"In addition, we will continue to assist the law enforcement agencies in their investigation of this issue,' Google said in a blog posted on 14 January by Suzanne Frey, Vice President, Product, Android Security and Privacy, Google India.

Google, however, did not reveal the names of the apps that were removed.

Earlier, four apps 10MinuteLoan, Ex-Money and Extra Mudra and StuCred were taken down from the Play Store after Reuters flagged to Google that they were violating its ban on offering personal loans requiring full repayment in 60 days or less. StuCred was allowed back on Google Google Play store on 7 January after it removed the offer of a 30-day loan, Reuters reported.

According to borrowers quoted by Reuters, at least six other apps remain available on PlayStore that offer loan repayment lengths, or tenures with some tenures as low as seven days. Some even charge a processing fee of as high as Rs 2000 on loans of less than Rs 10,000 with tenures of 30 days or undertaking the interest rates to 60 per cent. The Indian banks in comparison charge annual interest rates of 10-20% for loans that do not have to be paid back in full for at least a year.

In its blogpost on Thursday, Google said all developers on its Play Store agree to the terms of the Google Play Developer Distribution Agreement, which stipulates that apps must adhere to applicable rules and laws, including generally accepted practices and guidelines.

"The Google Play Developer Policy requires financial services apps that offer personal loans to disclose key information such as the minimum and maximum periods of repayment, the maximum annual percentage rate, and a representative example of the total loan cost," Frey noted.

Google India allows personal loan apps with full repayment required in greater than or equal to 60 days from the date the loan is issued, she added.

"We believe transparency of information around the features, fees, risks, and benefits of personal loans will help people make informed decisions about their financial needs, thereby reducing the risk of being exposed to deceptive financial products and services," she wrote.

The company said to protect privacy developers must only request permissions that are necessary to implement current features or services. They should not use permissions that give access to user or device data for undisclosed, unimplemented, or disallowed features or purposes.

Developers must also only use data for purposes that the user has consented to, and if they later want to use the data for other purposes, they must obtain user permission for the additional uses, Google said.

Google said it wanted to clarify the actions it is taking on a personal loan app, adding that such platforms have received attention recently.

Even as incidents of suicides and harassments rose relating to online lending, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on 13 January announced a working group to study digital lending activities so that an appropriate regulatory framework can be formed . The committe will submit its report within three months.