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New Delhi
The government on Wednesday said it has directed social media and online platforms to ensure that they do not host advertisements of fraudulent loan apps.
The development comes after a day of the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) issued an advisory to all digital intermediaries to actively comply with the existing IT rules, particularly in the context of misinformation and deepfakes.
“The advisory issued by MeitY underscores the obligation of intermediaries to actively prohibit, crackdown and remove fraudulent loan and betting apps advertisement from their platforms. The advisory also stresses the importance of robust grievance redressal mechanisms employed by intermediaries,” Rajeev Chandrasekhar, Minister of State for Electronics and IT, said.
Decisive efforts
This advisory comes at the backdrop of the government’s decisive efforts to combat threats such as deepfakes, misinformation, and the proliferation of illegal loan and betting apps. It reflects a dedicated commitment of creating a safe and trusted Internet for all digital citizens, he said.
In a meeting convened in October 2023, MeitY and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) discussed the necessary actions against illegal betting apps. During this meeting, MeitY urged the RBI to devise a more comprehensive Know Your Customer (KYC) process for banks. This proposed KYC process, termed “Know Your Digital Finance App” (KYDFA), is envisioned to enhance the ability to trace and address rogue loan apps effectively.
This recommendation was officially communicated to the Department of Financial Services (DFS) and RBI on October 13, 2023, Chandrasekhar informed.
Establishing traceability
“This will ensure that only legitimate and scrutinised financial apps can access and use the Indian banking system and further, if there is any violation of law, the KYDFA process will help in establishing traceability and origin of the app for action under law,” he said.
“One of the areas we are now cracking down on is advertising of fraudulent loan apps that many platforms are carrying and we have, through yesterday’s advisory, made it clear that no intermediary can carry advertisements of fraudulent loan apps because it will be misleading and exploits people who are using the Internet,” he added.
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