NEW DELHI: In what could be another crackdown on Chinese apps, the government has decided to ban 138 betting apps and 94 loan lending apps with Chinese links. As per the reports, the government has already initiated to ban of these apps on an “urgent” and “emergency” basis.
According to an official communication between the two ministries — Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (Meity) and Ministry of Home Affairs — the action was initiated after confirming that these apps attract Section 69 of the IT Act as they contain “material which is prejudicial to sovereignty and integrity of India.
The reason for banning these apps is the Chinese links. As per the reports, almost all of these apps are said to be the brainchild of Chinese nationals who hired Indians and made them directors of the operation.
“After luring desperate individuals into taking on a loan, they jacked up the interest by up to 3,000% annually,” the report said.
The report noted that these apps, often displaying predatory behaviour to trap individuals in massive debt, can also be misused as tools for espionage and propaganda, besides posing a security risk to the data of Indian citizens.
These apps provide a small amount of loans to people. However, when the debtors were unable to repay the interest or the entire loan, individuals representing these apps started harassing those in debt. In many instances, they send them lewd messages, threatening to release their morphed photos and shaming them with messages to their contacts.
The matter came into the spotlight after a spate of suicides, particularly in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, by those who opted for such loans or lost money to betting apps. States such as Telangana, Odisha and Uttar Pradesh as well as central intelligence agencies had then asked the Union home ministry to take action against these apps, sources said.