After Google, now Apple also removes predatory lending apps in India

Apple India has purged several predatory lending apps from its app store, days after users reported of harassment on social media.

Apps like Pocket Kash, White Kash, Golden Kash, and OK Rupee are among the apps that have been purged from the App Store.

This comes almost over a month after Google removed lending apps that take up unethical ways of recovery.

Many users have reported that such apps take permissions of accessing contact, gallery and other data on the phone at the time of sign up and when the user defaults these apps morph pornographic images, videos and threaten the user with them.

Apple has confirmed the move, saying that the apps were in violation of the Apple Developer Program License Agreement, and guidelines. The apps were also “falsely representing an association with a financial institution”, Apple said about its findings.

“We do not tolerate fraudulent activity on the App Store, and have stringent rules against apps and developers who attempt to cheat the system,” the company said adding that the App Store, and Apple's App Review Guidelines, are designed to ensure we are providing the safest experience possible to our users. 

The company also said, "As our recent analysis showed: the App Store stopped over $2 billion in fraudulent transactions in 2022, rejected nearly 1.7 million app submissions for failing to meet Apple's standards of quality and safety, and terminated 428,000 developer accounts for potentially fraudulent activity."

The move is also in tandem with India's central government, the Reserve Bank of India's guidelines on stringent checks to help curb the use of illegal digital lending applications.

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