Just days after banning 232 betting and instant loan apps, with links to China, the IT ministry on Thursday gave 48 hours to banned platforms to prove their genuineness. Citing the reasons, a senior official from the ministry said the ban has been imposed on the platforms because their businesses were not genuine. Last week on Saturday, the center issued an order to ban 138 betting and gambling websites and 94 loan apps, operated by overseas entities, including Chinese, for being involved in betting, gambling, and unauthorized loan services.
“Why would there be any ban if they were genuine? Action has been taken on them,” the ministry official said. Another official added, “they have been given 48 hours under the rule to submit documents. The decision will be taken based on their presentation. It is going on now.”
According to reports, the government found the blocked apps violated Section 69 of the IT Act and contained material that was deemed a threat to India’s sovereignty and integrity.
The list of ban platforms includes fintech firms LazyPay, Indiabulls Home Loans, and Kissht. As per reports, MeitY ordered to block lazypay.in, which is a subsidiary of Dutch investment firm Prosus.
The website www.indiabullshomeloans.com is operated by housing finance company Indiabulls Housing Finance Ltd, while Kissht.com is operated by RBI-registered NBFC ONEMi Technology Solutions Private Limited.
Some other websites in the block list include buddyloan.com, cashtm.in, kreditbee.en.aptoide.com, faircent.com, true-balance.en.uptodown.com, and mpokket.en.aptoide.com. Fintech firm mPokket said an app impersonating it has been blocked and that it has no link with the blocked app.
“The domain in the list issued by MeiTY this week, mpokket.en.aptoide.com, is a clear instance of impersonation and has no affiliation with mPokket whatsoever. Aptoide is a third-party app store with which we have no official or unofficial partnership,” mPokket said in a statement.
