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Google Shuts Down Over 3,500 Loan Apps In India For Violating Norms

By LokMarg 28th April 2023

Tech giant Google has taken action against more than 3,500 loan apps in India in 2022 and removed them from its Play Store for violating policies.

The company gave this information on Thursday in a blog.
According to the blog, in 2022, Google prevented 14 lakh 30 thousand apps from being released on Google Play for violating policies and banned 1,73,000 accounts with fraud and suspicious transactions worth more than USD 200 million. Google said it regularly revises its policies, reviews processes and makes continuous improvement efforts.

According to the blog, the company will make stricter rules regarding ads and privacy in 2023.

In a blog post the company said, “In India, in 2022, we have reviewed and taken necessary enforcement action, including removal of apps, on more than 3,500 personal loan apps for violations of the Play policy requirements. We continue to uplevel our efforts in this area by regularly updating our policies and review processes.”

In October last year, the Competition Commission of India (CCI) slapped two penalties on the tech giant for anti-competitive practices related to Android mobile devices and for abusing its dominant position with respect to its Play Store policies.

The Commission also directed Google to modify its conduct within a defined timeline.

Based on its assessment, the CCI said it found Google to be dominant in the markets for licensable operating systems (OS) for smart mobile devices and market for app stores for Android smart mobile OS, in India.

The competition watchdog said selling in-app digital goods constitutes an important means for app developers to monetise their creations/innovations. However, for in-app digital goods to be distributed to purchasing users, developers must configure their apps so that all purchases of the digital goods go through Google’s payment system, which processes the transactions. (ANI)