Google Kills More Than 2,000 Personal Loan Apps from Play Store in India

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At a time when the local central bank is aggressively cracking down on exploitative tactics, Google claims to have removed more than 2,000 personal loan apps from its Play Store in India and is working to amend its policy, according to a report by TechCrunch.

The deleted apps were targeted toward Indian consumers, according to Saikat Mitra, Senior Director and Head of Trust and Safety at Google Asia-Pacific. They stated this at an event in New Delhi on Thursday, Aug. 25.

"A big bulk of the loan apps in the Play Store were taken down... I would say more than 50 percent of them (were in violation of Google's policies)," Mitra said in a statement.

Predatory Lending Applications

The tech giant had to remove the apps after conferring with local law enforcement agencies. According to Mitra, the firm intends to make certain modifications to its policy in the coming weeks to create greater safeguards against such apps.

Google and several other companies are rushing to take action against predatory lending applications in India that have been proven to, in some cases wherein apps charge clients outrageous fees and go beyond acceptable boundaries in their collection operations.

TechCrunch noted that local officials have claimed that some businesses are also using the lending apps to launder money for Chinese firms.

Last year, the creator of Android banned hundreds of personal loan applications from India and mandated that lending apps provide users with at least 60 days to pay back their loans.

In recent months, the Reserve Bank of India has also taken a number of actions to stop improper behavior from lending companies and fintech startups.

Additionally, India's central bank tried to limit lending companies' access to client data and increase transparency over the interest rates they charge in a directive announced earlier this month.