Speaking at an event in New Delhi, Saikat Mitra, Senior Director and Head of Trust and Safety at Google Asia-Pacific, revealed that Google had removed many apps that were ‘targeting’ users in India. While Mitra didn’t elaborate on the company’s plans, he did say that Google is working to protect users against these personal loan apps. Google had removed a lot — close to 2,000 — personal loan apps for violating Play Store guidelines.
Google has made it harder for personal apps in India
Earlier this year in May, Google revised some of the guidelines for personal apps on the Play Store. Apps now have to complete a personal loan app declaration for India. Any app that needs to be on Play Store has to provide the necessary documentation to support your declaration. If an app is licensed by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to provide personal loans, then the developer must submit a copy of the license for Google to review.
In case an app is not directly engaged in money lending activities and is only providing a platform to facilitate money lending by registered Non-Banking Financial Companies (NBFCs) or banks to users, it will need to accurately reflect this in the declaration. Furthermore, the names of all registered NBFCs and banks must be prominently disclosed in the app’s description.
Google categorises apps that provide personal loans, including but not limited to apps which offer loans directly, lead generators, and the ones who connect consumers with third-party lenders, under the “Finance” apps category. It is mandatory for apps to disclose information like minimum and maximum period for repayment; Maximum Annual Percentage Rate (APR), which generally includes the interest rate plus fees and other costs for a year, or similar other rates calculated consistently with local law.
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