Now, loan apps on Google Play Store India will have to display partner bank links

Google has made it compulsory for loan disbursal apps on the Indian Play Store to display a link to their partner banks or non-banking finance company (NBFC).

The measure was implemented after a series of meetings with officials from Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY).

Google updated its policies on loan apps on September 5, and the deadline for compliance was September 19, failing which apps could get deleted from the Play Store.

Speaking with The Economic Times, Google said that it will begin removing apps "that remain non-compliant with the requirements past the deadline provided" and that the company has been taking "necessary enforcement action" as part of "its routine compliance sweeps".

The live links help users see what banks or organizations the loan apps are allied with, and the link will also retroactively highlight all loan apps the partner bank or NBFC has approved.

Loan apps on the Indian Play Store don't have a great track record, and are often accused of roping in customers with the lure of instant credit and then imposing hidden charges and false repayments to fool those customers.

In the worst case scenario, the loan app might turn out to be fraudulent, and pose a serious risk to your payment information or account credentials.

The IT ministry in conjunction with RBI and finance ministry have also proposed extensive legal guidelines that all loan apps operating within the country will have to comply with.

Google has also stated that all loan apps on their platform must also mention details such as the minimum and maximum time of repayments, interest rates, and other costs.