The Menace of Usurious Lenders Operating through Chinese Loan Apps
Moneylife Digital Team
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After the sterling groundwork of Telangana police, officials from across India are arresting app-based lenders, often linked to Chinese companies. Their ruthless recovery tactics have led to a dozen suicides and finally goaded the police into action. These ruthless lenders, charging usurious interest, masquerading as processing fees (to beat the Usurious Loans Act) have wreaked havoc among desperate borrowers who lost their livelihood during the lock-down. The apps, which lend small sums between Rs2,000 to Rs10,000, target low-income and financial unsavvy Indians, who fail to realise how quickly their small borrowings can balloon into a huge loan. The harassment that follows has driven many young people to suicide, pushing the police to act. The Union government has still to respond with a clear policy, though.