The Reserve Bank of India cautioned people against unauthorised digital lending apps amid growing concerns over coercive recovery tactics and exorbitant interest rates charged by a section of such lenders.
“There have been reports about individuals and small businesses falling prey to the growing number of unauthorised digital lending platforms and mobile apps on promises of getting loans in a quick and hassle-free manner," the RBI said.
It cautioned the public not to fall prey to such unscrupulous activities and verify the antecedents of the company offering loans online or through mobile apps. Moreover, consumers should never share copies of know your customer (KYC) documents with unidentified persons, unverified and unauthorised apps and should report such apps and bank account information associated with the apps to concerned law enforcement agencies or use sachet portal (https://sachet.rbi.org.in) to file an on-line complaint," the central bank said.
Reserve Bank has also mandated that digital lending platforms which are used on behalf of Banks and NBFCs should disclose name of the Bank(s) or NBFC(s) upfront to the customers. The names and addresses of the NBFCs registered with the Reserve Bank can be accessed here and the portal for filing complaints against the entities regulated by the RBI can be accessed through https://cms.rbi.org.in.
