Loan app blocking is a national security issue, says Ashwini Vaishnaw

The loan app ban that took many digital lending platforms by surprise last week is a national security issue, Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said on February 13.

"It is a national security issue. I wouldn't like to comment further on it here," the cabinet minister said while speaking to the press on the sidelines of the G20 digital economy working group meeting in Lucknow.

As many as 94 digital lending platforms, including Kissht and PayU-backed Lazypay, were spiked after blocking orders were issued on an 'urgent' and 'emergency' basis under Section 69A of the Information Technology Act 2000.

According to the order, these apps were flagged by the Ministry of Home Affairs because of alleged Chinese links.

Under Sec 69A of the IT Act, the Central government, represented here by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), or any other specially-authorised officer, can issue blocking orders under specific grounds such as the interest of sovereignty and integrity of India, defence of India, security of the state, and so on.

Later, MeitY officials met with several digital lenders in relation to the blocking of their websites and on platforms such as Google Play Store on February 8.

A partial list of the platforms in the MeitY directive has been accessed by Moneycontrol. It includes names such as Faircent, Indiabullshomeloans, Quick Finance, Lifecash, Moneywoods BuddyLoan, Cashtm, and RupeeRedee, among others.