The government and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) have introduced several measures to protect citizens from exploitation by unauthorised digital loan apps, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Tuesday.
The government has been engaging regularly with the RBI and other regulators to curb the operations of unauthorised digital loan apps in the country.
The RBI has operationalised a directory of Digital Lending Apps (DLAs) on its website, listing all apps deployed by regulated entities (REs). The directory is intended to help customers verify whether a DLA is associated with a legitimate RE.
“In cases where unauthorised digital loan apps are identified, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) is empowered to issue directions to block access to such apps under Section 69A of the Information Technology (IT) Act, 2000, following due process as outlined in the IT (Procedure and Safeguards for Blocking for Access of Information by Public) Rules, 2009,” Sitharaman said in a Lok Sabha reply.
The RBI had issued the Reserve Bank of India (Digital Lending) Directions, 2025 on May 8, 2025. These directions include detailed provisions on recovery, data privacy, and customer grievance redressal mechanisms, which are mandatory for REs, Lending Service Providers (LSPs), and the DLAs they engage.
The government is also working closely with major internet intermediaries and messaging platforms to monitor the operations of unauthorised loan apps.
The Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C), under the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), has been actively analysing digital lending apps. To help citizens report cyber incidents, including illegal loan apps, the MHA has launched a National Cybercrime Reporting Portal and a National Cybercrime Helpline at “1930.”
Banks, through the public-facing SACHET portal and the inter-regulatory State Level Coordination Committee (SLCC), also facilitate citizens in lodging complaints against entities illegally collecting deposits or offering unauthorised loans, Sitharaman added.
(IANS)
