Maharashtra deputy CM slams false Chinese loan apps, says they have hurt many financially

China once again found itself at the centre of a political storm in India on Monday (22) when Devendra Fadnavis, the deputy chief minister of the western state of Maharashtra said a number of fraudulent loan apps, which have landed people looking for short and long-term loans in financial trouble, are Chinese ones that are operated from Nepal.

According to a report in the Hindu BusinessLine, the Maharashtra legislative council talked over the growth of fraudulent loan apps and the members have demanded that the state government led by chief minister Eknath Shinde take actions against them.

Fadnavis, a former chief minister of Maharashtra, told the house that cases of cybercrime have shot up during the pandemic.

“Various loan apps have been launched and some of the apps are operated from Nepal,” Fadnavis, who belongs to the Bharatiya Janata Party of prime minister Narendra Modi, adding that the state has contacted the central government and authorities in Nepal about operators of such apps.

“There are call centres in Nepal which attract customers and ask them to download the loan app. Once the app is downloaded, customers are asked to pay margin money and immediately money is transferred to the wallet (digital)” said Fadnavis, the report added.

He also said that once money is transferred, the app goes out of order.

Fadnavis also said that the Maharashtra cyber crime department has recovered Rs 3.5 crore from fraudulent digital wallets. The department has established a Cyber Watch unit, which has detected many fraudulent loan apps, he added.

Bhai Jagtap, a member of the council from the opposition Indian National Congress, said the state government must take note of the fraudulent activities being carried out online and demanded that the state police and cyber branch be equipped with modern technology to fight such crimes.