New Delhi: The Centre has decided to ban and block 138 betting apps and 94 loan lending apps with Chinese links on an “urgent” and “emergency” basis.
According to reports, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) has initiated the process to block these apps based on the recommendations of the Union Home Ministry, which confirmed that the 138 betting apps contained material prejudicial to the sovereignty and integrity of India under Section 69 of the IT Act.
Desperate individuals were lured into taking on a loan and the interest was then jacked up to 3,000 per cent annually. The debtors, who were unable to repay the interest, were harassed through lewd messages and people representing the app also threatened to release their morphed photos and shamed them with messages to their contacts, ANI reported.
The matter came to the light after a spate of suicides was reported from Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. The victims had either taken loans or lost money to betting apps.
Since June 2020, over 200 Chinese apps, including popular applications like TikTok, Shareit, WeChat, Helo, Likee, UC News, Bigo Live, UC Browser, ES File Explorer, and Mi Community, have been banned in India.
