India’s digital loan sharks face crackdown as complaints mount

Governments and app store operators are cracking down on digital loan sharks, as the issue flares out of control in India. — Poster vector created by macrovector - www.freepik.com

When V. Rajapandian was pushed out of his job at a heat treatment plant in India, the reason had nothing to do with performance or falling revenue. Instead, his boss offered a peculiar explanation: After Rajapandian defaulted on a loan from a mobile app, recovery agents demanded the plant pay on his behalf.

"I lost my job because of them,” Rajapandian said of CASHe, the app he used to secure a US$132 (RM551.89) loan. "I constantly live with the fear that they will track me down and harass me.”