NEW DELHI: Nearly 43% of respondents to a survey said they received calls from phone marketers to apply for loans through an app, and 70% were aware that these apps attract higher interest rates and yet One opts for the loan accordingly. Survey by Way2News, India’s largest local news app.
Slightly more than half of the respondents said they or any of their family or friends had taken advantage of such loans, and 67% of those surveyed were harassed or harassed about those friends and family. I know who are suffering at the hands of loan sharks but 79 per cent of the respondents did not know where to complain.
“We conducted a loan app survey in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, to which 2 lakh people responded. We have seen many complaints related to loan apps, so we decided to conduct a survey to understand the number of people affected. The findings are shocking,” says Venkat Aditya Gunturu, Content Head, Way2News.
The survey was conducted among users of Way2News app in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. At least 200,000 people from both states took the survey. 65% of men and 35% of women shared their responses, the majority of whom (44%) were in the 21-30 age group. Majority of the respondents were from Mahbubnagar (3171), followed by East Godavari (3047) and Nalgonda (2954).
The Way2News team asked several questions about loan apps to understand the perception of people in the state towards these micro-credit loan apps.
Apps lure users by offering quick and easy loans with high interest rates and processing fees. When someone defaults, recovery strategies include contacting and texting other people in the borrower’s contact list, morphing images, and more.
According to the police, fraudster apps hack the user’s phone and take their data including bank information, email and images. Then they start tormenting the user by sending modified photos of the user to their friends, colleagues and family.
Hyderabad Police has issued a Red Corner Notice against some Chinese nationals for their connection with operating these illegal online loan apps. Google India has removed many such lending apps from its Play Store. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has also set up a working group to examine the conduct of regulated and unregulated businesses in digital lending.
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