The central bank and the Indian government have asked Google to enact more controls to assist reduce the use of unlawful online lending applications. Despite not falling under the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) purview, Google has been encouraged to establish stricter checks and balances that can aid in eliminating these apps.
The recent Ebola pandemic made illegal loan applications quite popular, and Indian regulators have already requested that lenders increase their checks against them. Regulators work to prevent the spread of these apps that carry out dishonest practises including levying high interest rates and fees. Google said that it updated the guidelines for financial services apps in the Play Store developer programme last year.
Google has deleted from the Play Store more than 2,000 personal loan apps aimed at Indian consumers. Any lending apps that are featured on app stores must be supported by regulated organisations, according to the central bank of India. Google has also been tasked with investigating how to stop the spread of these programmes through other distribution channels, like websites.
Currently, the government and Reserve Bank of India (RBI) are creating a white list of approved loan applications. With 95% of smartphones in India running on the Android operating system, Google controls the app industry. A borrower must engage directly with a bank for loan and recovery within the rules established by the central bank.
NEW ADVERTISING POLICY
In 2021–2022, $2.2 billion in digital loans were made possible by India’s rapidly expanding digital lending market. It’s unclear how much of that comes from apps using questionable methods. Customers are frequently reached by these lenders through adverts on websites like Facebook and Google. Google is introducing new advertising guidelines for Indian financial services.
According to a blog post on its website, Google will launch a new advertising policy for financial services in India starting the next month. According to the regulation, marketers must be verified as being located in India in order for their ads to run there. According to the site, advertisers must show proof of their licences with the relevant financial services authority as part of the verification process.
Post Your Comments