Loan & Betting Apps Banned!

The Indian government has banned 138 betting apps and 94 lending apps that could harm India's sovereignty and integrity.

The Indian government has banned 138 betting apps and 94 lending apps that are allegedly connected to China. This is because these apps were found to contain things that could harm India's sovereignty and integrity.

These apps have been luring desperate people into taking on loans with interest rates jacked up to 3000% annually. When these people were unable to repay the loans, they were subjected to harassment, lewd messages, threats to release morphed photos, and shaming messages sent to their contacts.

The issue came to the forefront after a spate of suicides, particularly in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, by those who took such loans or lost money to betting apps.

Several states and central intelligence agencies raised the alarm and asked the Union Home Ministry to take action against these apps.

The MHA, based on these inputs, started analyzing 28 Chinese loan-lending apps six months ago and found 94 available on e-stores and others working through third-party links.

These apps have been banned under Section 69 of the Information Technology Act. This section gives the government the power to intercept, monitor, or decrypt any information on a computer if it is deemed necessary for the security of the country or for preventing crime.

This is not the first time the Centre has taken such action. Since June 2020, over 200 Chinese apps have been banned, including popular apps like TikTok, WeChat, and Shareit, among others.