Bihar Police Urges MeitY To Ban Over 100 Gambling, Illegal Loan Apps

The Bihar police has reportedly requested the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) to ban over 100 gambling, gaming, and illegal loan lending apps for their alleged involvement in money laundering activities and posing potential threats to the financial security of the nation. 

The Economic Offences Unit (EOU) of the Bihar police approached MeitY, seeking ban on these apps, Nayyar Hasnain Khan, additional director general (ADG) of EOU, told news agency PTI. 

“The decision was taken after confirming that these apps attract Section 69 of the Information Technology (IT) Act as they contain materials which are prejudicial to the sovereignty and integrity of India. Several complaints had been received of extortion and harassment from people who had borrowed very small amounts through such loan lending apps,” Khan was quoted  saying. 

Section 69A of the IT Act authorises the government to limit access to any online information in order to defend the nation’s sovereignty and integrity, state security, cordial relations with other nations, and public order.

According to the ADG, multiple complaints have been received against these applications and persons linked with them in Arwal, Phulwari Sharif (Patna), Aurangabad, and Jamui.

Explaining the modus operandi of the apps, Khan said the apps access or hack all the data from customers’ phones while providing them digital loans. They not only charge exorbitant interest rate but also harass the borrowers for failure to repay the loan by sending obscene materials to those on their contact list

The development comes at a time when the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB) has issued multiple advisories asking media platforms and other online platforms not to carry advertisements of 

betting platforms. 

In recent years, India has banned multiple apps due to concerns related to national security, data privacy, and harmful content. 

In February 2023, the Ministry of Home Affairs directed MeitY to block access to more than 138 betting apps and digital loan apps with links to China. The banned apps were found flouting Section 69 of the IT Act. 

Besides, the rise of illegal lending apps has become a matter of concern for the government as well, as the harassment by the operators of these apps have also resulted in death by suicide in some cases. A majority of these apps have been alleged to have links with China. 

Last year, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman chaired a meeting to curb the menace of the illegal lending apps. Following this, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) provided a white list of legal lending apps to MeitY, which, in turn, directed tech giants Google and Apple to remove the digital lending apps not on the list from their respective app stores.

Despite this, many illegal lending apps continue to operate. Earlier this week, Apple delisted many such apps from its India App Store.