New Delhi: The authorities on Tuesday knowledgeable Parliament that Google has suspended or eliminated greater than 2,200 fraudulent mortgage apps from its Play Store between September 2022 and August 2023.

The authorities is consistently engaged with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and different regulators and stakeholders involved to regulate fraudulent mortgage apps, Minister of State for Finance Bhagwat Ok Karad stated in a written reply to Rajya Sabha.

“As per the information received from MeitY (Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology), during April 2021-July 2022, Google had reviewed approximately 3,500 to 4,000 loan apps and suspended/removed over 2,500 loan apps from its Play Store,” he stated. (Also Read: Three IPOs To Hit Primary Market On Wednesday; Aim To Raise Rs 1,700 Crore)

Similarly, he stated, throughout September 2022-August 2023, over 2,200 mortgage apps had been faraway from the Google Play Store. Google removes 2,200 fraudulent mortgage apps from Play Store: 

“Further, Google has updated its policy regarding enforcement of loan apps on the Play Store and only those apps are allowed on the Play Store which are published by Regulated Entities (REs) or those working in partnership with REs. It has also deployed additional policy requirements with strict enforcement actions for loan apps in India,” he stated.

The Reserve Bank has issued regulatory pointers on digital lending, which goals at firming up the regulatory framework for digital lending, whereas enhancing buyer safety and making the digital lending ecosystem secure and sound, he stated. The Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C), Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has been proactively analysing the digital lending apps on a steady foundation, he stated.

In order to facilitate the residents to report cyber incidents, together with unlawful mortgage apps, he stated, MHA has launched a National Cybercrime Reporting Portal (www.Cybercrime.Gov.In) in addition to a National Cybercrime Helpline quantity ‘1930’. (Also Read: Company Loses Rs 200 Crore In Deepfake Scam Via Fake ‘CFO’ Video Call)

To unfold consciousness in opposition to cybercrimes, he stated, the federal government has been taking varied initiatives infrequently which embrace cyber security suggestions via social media accounts, publishing of handbook for adolescents/college students, publishing of ‘Information Security Best practices’ for the good thing about authorities officers, organising cyber security and safety consciousness weeks in affiliation with states/Union Territories and so on.

In addition to those, he stated, RBI and banks have additionally been taking cybercrime consciousness campaigns via dissemination of messages on cybercrime via SMS (Short Messaging Service), radio campaigns, and publicity on prevention of ‘cybercrime’. Further, RBI has been conducting digital banking consciousness and coaching (e-BAAT) programmes, which concentrate on consciousness about frauds and danger mitigation, he stated.

In a reply to a different query, Karad stated, JanSamarth Portal was launched to offer a typical platform for availing loans beneath credit-linked authorities schemes. A complete of 1,83,903 beneficiaries have availed loans beneath the stated schemes linked to the JanSamarth portal since its launch until December 2023, he stated. Karad, in a separate reply, stated 7.25 circumstances of fraud associated to UPI had been reported throughout 2022-23. The quantity concerned in these fraud circumstances was Rs 573 crore.