The Indian government has banned over 232 betting and loan lending apps in India with “Chinese links”. The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) has taken cognizance of 138 betting apps and 94 loan apps that have links to China after recommendations by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA).
Authored by : GT Correspondent
Updated Feb 6, 2023, 12:33 IST
The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) said that it has started the process to block the apps. (Pixabay)
In its latest crackdown, the Indian government has banned over 232 betting and loan lending apps in India with “Chinese links”. The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) has taken cognizance of 138 betting apps and 94 loan apps that have links to China after recommendations by the Ministry of Home Affairs ( MHA ).
The Indian government has cited Section 69 of the IT Act for taking down these 232 apps stating that these contain material which is prejudicial to the sovereignty and integrity of India. As per a report by ANI News, the MHA asked MeitY to ban and de-list 138 betting apps and 94 loan apps based on several complaints by users who faced extortion and harassment through the said apps.
Some sources mentioned in the ANI report claim that these betting and loan apps are owned by Chinese nationals who hire Indian executives to make them the company’s face. The report goes on to reveal the modus operandi stating that the users get lured into taking loans from these apps after which the interest on the loan amount is increased by upto 3000% annually.
Failing to furnish the loan amount and the jacked-up interest, the people behind the apps send “lewd” messages and “threaten” users to release their morphed pictures online and share them with their contacts.
The MHA learnt about these apps from users’ complaints and after a series of suicide attempts in states such as Andhra Pradesh and Telangana by users who took loans through these apps.
The Indian government is yet to release an official list of all the banned betting and loan apps it has banned. While the apps have been de-listed from the Play Store and App Store, these are also being circulated online via third-party links and websites.
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