According to top government sources, the Central government has started the process to "urgently" and "emergency" prohibit and restrict 138 betting applications and 94 loan lending apps having connections to China.
According to information, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) made the choice in accordance with the Ministry of Home Affairs' suggestions (MHA).
According to sources, the Ministry started the process of banning and blocking these apps after the MHA proposed it to MeitY this week.
The action was initiated after it was established that these apps fall under Section 69 of the IT Act because they include content that is detrimental to India's sovereignty and integrity.
The decision to take this action was motivated by numerous allegations of harassment and extortion of regular individuals who had obtained minor loans through the mobile apps operated by such organizations and people. According to information obtained, Chinese nationals who hired Indians and made them operational directors created these apps.
According to inputs, needy people are persuaded to take out loans, and the interest is subsequently hiked up by as much as 300% annually. People working for these applications began harassing the borrowers when they discovered that they couldn't even pay the interest on their debts.
They threatened to disclose their altered images and humiliated them by sending messages to their contacts while sending them obscene texts. The issue gained attention after a number of people committed suicide, mostly in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, after taking out such loans or losing money on gambling applications.
According to sources, central intelligence agencies and states like Telangana, Odisha, and Uttar Pradesh petitioned the Union Home Ministry to take action against these apps.
The MHA began analyzing 28 Chinese loan lending applications six months ago based on these facts. However, they discovered that 94 apps are accessible through online marketplaces and that others function via links from third parties.
Although it has been reported that many smartphone apps are no longer available for download, reports claim that gambling apps and games can still be found on independent websites or connections.
The Consumer Protection Act of 2019, the Cable TV Network Regulation Act of 1995, and the Information Technology Rules of 2021 all prohibit advertising of betting platforms and their surrogates because betting and gambling are illegal in the majority of the country, according to a warning from the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB).
