To definitively deal with the menace of personal loan apps, Google has tightened personal loan policy for apps on Play Store.

In a big to curb unethical debt collection tactics followed by these apps, Google said on Thursday that it will prohibit personal loan apps from accessing sensitive user data such as photos, videos, contacts, precise location, call logs, etc. The updated policy change will come into effect on May 31, 2023.

Google has also asked apps to complete the personal loan app declaration for India and provide necessary documentation to support the declaration. For example, if the firm is licensed by the Reserve Bank of India to provide personal loans, they must submit a copy of the licence for review.

“Those who are not directly engaged in money lending activities and are only providing a platform to facilitate money lending by registered non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) or banks to users, they will need to accurately reflect this in the declaration. In addition, the names of all registered NBFCs and banks must be prominently disclosed in the app’s description,” said Google.

These changes come after increasing reports of harassment reported in countries like India – where borrowers who get credit from mobile apps had to face harassment by debt collectors who purpotedly access the borrowers’ images and contects and manipulate them to intimidate borrowers. 

Also read
Shannon Stapleton

Google follows Apple with account deletion policy for Android apps; shuts ‘Now Launcher’

In 2022, Google removed over 2,000 personal loan apps from the India Play Store. The tech giant worked with several stakeholders like government agencies, media and user referrals to remove over 50 per cent of these apps from the Play Store. 

Declaration form released

The tech giant has released a declaration form for lending apps from India - requiring specific disclosures.

“Users must complete this declaration form and submit the necessary documentation before publishing their personal loan app. When the entity is ready to submit the app, they must ensure that App Category is correctly set to “Finance” in the Google Play Console, that the developer account name matches the name of the associated registered business name provided through declaration, and that the app is in compliance with all Google Play policies,” it said.

Entities should expect the review of their submitted declaration form and app to take at least a week and prepare their app’s launch date accordingly.