Toni Dimaano Tech 02.06.2023 10:Feb AM EST

Security Fears Prompt India To Block Up To 230 Chinese-Linked Betting And Lending Apps

The Indian Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology will restrict 138 betting applications and 94 loan lending apps with Chinese linkages.

SCMP notes that India has prohibited the use of popular Chinese applications since 2020, when political tensions with China began to rise as a result of a border incident.

The Concern Stem From Customers Not Realizing The Terms Of The Apps

To prevent the misuse of its residents' data, India is taking steps to restrict 232 apps, some of which have connections to China and offer betting and loan services in the South Asian market.

According to Section 69 of India's IT code, the Ministry of Home Affairs advised the MeitY ban and blocked these apps by the following week.

The IT law permits the government to prohibit public access to content for a variety of reasons, including the protection of national security.

According to Prasar Bharti, the Ministry of Home Affairs directed the ministry to make the decision, Tech Crunch reports.

The apps raised fears that they may be used as espionage and propaganda tools since they attempted to trick users into taking on large debts without understanding the rules.

The action taken on Sunday is the most recent in a line of measures taken by the government to combat services like shark loan applications and other things that are endangering the inhabitants of the country.

India has outlawed popular Chinese apps since 2020, when political tensions with China erupted after a border incident.

China expressed worries about bilateral commercial and trade cooperation after India last year restricted access to many mobile apps due to security concerns.

Because of this, last year, the Reserve Bank of India imposed strict regulations on companies that make digital loans, urging them to give customers more transparency and control.

The new regulations state that lenders must explicitly state the yearly loan rate and are not allowed to raise a customer's credit limit without the latter's permission.

Additionally, it is required for digital lending apps to obtain consumers' prior, express consent before collecting any data, and all such requests must be "need-based."

The US Applauds India For Taking Such Step

In recent years, India has also prohibited more than 300 apps that have ties to China in order to defend the sovereignty and integrity of the country.

Early last year, New Delhi banned 50 additional apps with alleged ties to China, including Xriver by Tencent, Free Fire by Garena, Onmyoji Arena and Astracraft by NetEase, and 50 more.

Amid geopolitical tensions between the two neighboring countries, the Indian government also outlawed dozens of apps in mid-2020.

According to Tech Crunch, this includes TikTok from ByteDance, the Community and Video Call apps from Xiaomi, and UC Browser and UC News from Alibaba Group.

New Delhi has never made it clear that it is blocking apps from a specific nation, but Authorities claimed that the collection of user data by Chinese apps jeopardized India's national security.

Brendan Carr of the US Federal Communications Commission, applauded India's suspension of TikTok and other applications last month and said that by outlawing the ByteDance app, it had established a "extremely important precedent."

Carr warned that TikTok is an advanced monitoring tool, and he concluded that banning the social app was the logical next step in attempts to protect communication networks.

In defense of itself, TikTok said that its user data was kept on servers in Singapore and the United States, not in China, SCMP writes.