RBI mulling on a Digital India Trust Agency for tracking illegal lending apps

The Reserve Bank of India is contemplating on the establishment of a Digital India Trust Agency (DIGITA) as part of its initiatives to control a rise in cyber fraud via the emergence of multiple illegal lending apps. 

DIGITA will allow for the verification of digital lending apps, thereby maintaining a public register for them, as per sources. 

The apps which will noot have a 'verified' DIGITA signature shall be deemed unauthorised for law enforcement purposes, the sources further elucidated.

This will act as a turning point against financial crimes in the digital space. 

Once enacted, DIGITA would also be responsible for vetting digital lending apps, the sources noted. 

An all-round verification process would aid in more transparency and accountability within the growing digital lending sector, which has seen a rise in fraudulent activities and unscrupulous practices in the recent times. 

The Reserve Bank of India has also shared with the IT Ministry a list of 442 unique digital lending apps for whitelisting with Google. 

Apart from that, Google has excluded more than 2,200 digital lending apps (DLAs) from its app store from September 2022 to August 2023.

Google has updated its policy with respect to enforcing loan apps on the PlayStore, permitting only those apps which are published by the RBI's regulated entities (REs) or those working in partnership with REs. 

RBI and the Department of Financial Services under the Finance Ministry requested Google for bringing the change in policy.

(With PTI Inputs)