TECH
Govt, RBI take steps against Chinese loan apps
Government departments and RBI are taking coordinated steps to check Chinese mobile apps offering easy loans and cheating people, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said.
Government departments and RBI are taking coordinated steps to check Chinese mobile apps offering easy loans and cheating people, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said.
Government departments and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) are taking coordinated steps to check Chinese mobile apps offering easy loans and cheating people, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said in Rajya Sabha on Friday.
Responding to a zero-hour issue raised by a Trinamool Congress MP, Sitharaman said action has been taken against apps that are cheating people by offering loans.
The minister said she had in the last 6-7 months held several meetings with representatives of the central bank, her ministry officials and Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) on the issue of Chinese loan apps harassing and cheating people.
"A lot of apps that have been badly misused have also been brought to the attention of MeiTY," she said. "So there is a coordinated effort to contain such apps. And also to take action against those who are misusing."
Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeiTY) is the nodal ministry that issues orders for blocking apps considered prejudicial to the sovereignty and integrity of the country as well as harmful to the citizens.
Stating that a person recently committed suicide after being harassed for recovery of Rs 3,000 loan, he said the apps gain access to private information on phones including contact lists, photos and videos and use them to blackmail borrowers.
He demanded stringent action against such apps.