Digital Lending Fraud: RBI panel finds 600 illegal loan apps on app stores

An RBI panel found more than 600 illegal lending apps hosted on several app stores.

New Delhi: A Reserve Bank of India (RBI) panel has found that more than 600 illegal loan apps are available on several app stores for Android users in India. Overall, there are more than 1100 unique loan apps that can be searched with keywords such as loan, instant loan, quick loan, etc. 

“As per the findings of the WG, there were approximately 1100 lending apps available for Indian Android users across 80+ application stores (from January 01, 2021 to February 28, 2021),” the RBI report said.

“No. of App Stores in which Indian loan apps are available ~81. No. of unique Indian loan apps that have the keywords: loan, instant loan, quick loan, etc. ~1100. No. of illegal loan apps ~600,” the RBI report says.

In the recent past, digital lending frauds are on the rise. More than 2500 complaints were received from January 2020 to March 2021 against digital lending apps, with the maximum number of cases arising from Maharashtra, followed by Karnataka, Delhi, Haryana, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, and Gujarat, according to the RBI report.

Meanwhile, the working group has suggested the enactment of separate legislation to prevent illegal digital lending through apps. The group has also made several other suggestions to regulate digital lending. Also Read: SBI Alert! Bank shares how customers can secure bank accounts, check details

"The thrust of the report has been on enhancing customer protection and making the digital lending ecosystem safe and sound while encouraging innovation," RBI said in a release. Also Read: Elon Musk’s son X Æ A-XII joins him for a video call: WATCH viral video