Exclusive – Google under pressure in India to help curb illegal lending apps – sources

GOOGL) In Google has been asked by the Indian government and the central bank to introduce stricter checks to help curb the use of illegal digital lending apps in India, according to sources. Although Google does not fall under the purview of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), the U.S. tech giant has made a The Indian government held a meeting and urged the introduction of stricter checks and balances to help phase out such apps. Indian regulators have asked lenders to step up scrutiny of illegal lending apps that are popular during the pandemic. Regulators seek to control the proliferation of such apps that engage in unethical activities such as charging exorbitant interest rates and fees, or conducting recycling practices that are not authorized by the central bank or violate money laundering and other government guidelines. Google said last year it revamped its Play Store Developer Program policies for financial services apps, including requiring that Additional requirements for personal loan applications in India 52. ” We have removed more than 2, Personal loan app for India from the Play Store violates Play policy requirements,” a Google spokesperson said, adding that such measures would be taken if its policies were violated. “We will continue to work with law enforcement and industry bodies to help resolve this issue,” the spokesperson added. While the Central Bank of India requires that any lending app listed in the app store must be supported by a regulated entity, it is up to Google to do this and monitor compliance . Google has also been asked to consider curbing the rise of such apps and other downloads through other distribution channels such as websites, according to another industry leader directly involved. sources revealed. Google has also begun taking action on complaints it receives from industry bodies. “Earlier Google would not respond to complaints about individual apps. Now they are more proactive and do it when complaints are received investigation,” those directly involved in the matter One of four industry sources said he had been briefed on discussions with Google. The government and RBI are preparing to match the whitelist of approved loan applications. The central bank has also created norms to ensure that borrowers must conduct loan and recovery transactions directly with the bank, which helps keep third-party recovery agents out. Google with

dominates the Indian app market % of smartphones use its Android platform. The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology and the Reserve Bank of India did not immediately respond to emailed requests for comment. New Advertising Policy

India The digital lending market has grown rapidly and facilitated $2.2 billion in digital loans 95-. It’s unclear how much of this is through apps that engage in illegal behavior. These lenders often reach customers through ads on platforms like Facebook (NASDAQ: 400META) and Google. from next google site This month, Google will roll out a new advertising policy for financial services in India, according to a previous blog post.

policy says that in order to show financials advertising services in India, advertisers need to be verified in the country. As part of the verification, advertisers must demonstrate that they are licensed by the relevant financial services regulator, the blog said. 95