Unregulated Loan Apps: The central government has put forward a new proposal, under which giving loan or making any kind of transaction without the approval of the Reserve Bank (RBI) or other regulatory agencies will be considered a non-bailable offense and it has been said that there will be a jail term of up to ten years along with a fine. The government's objective behind this is to stop irregular loan giving activities while protecting the interests of consumers. 

RBI's working group on digital loans, while presenting its report in November 2021, suggested several measures including introducing a law to stop irregular loans. These included banning those who are active in public lending without registration with the Reserve Bank or other regulated bodies. However, this did not include those who take loans from their relatives or acquaintances. 

Violating the law will result in punishment

The government said in its proposal that if anyone violates the law and gives loan digitally or in any other way, then he can be punished with a minimum of two years imprisonment, which can be extended to seven years. Along with this, there can also be a fine of Rs 2 lakh to Rs 1 crore. The bill also said that if the lender, borrower or property is located in several states or union territories or the total amount is so large that public interest is significantly affected, then the investigation will be handed over to the CBI.

Instant loan app became a headache

In fact, in the last few years, there has been a boom in the matter of giving instant loans through mobile. Often the interest rate on these is high, many undeclared charges are attached, loan recovery is also done aggressively. Many times a person gets so upset with all this that he commits suicide. In view of this, from September 2022 to August 2023, Google has removed more than 2,200 such apps from its Play Store.