Nearly Rs 859 crore has been attached by the Directorate of Enforcement (ED) under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002, while investigating illegal loan apps, according to a response tabled in the Indian Parliament. The response revealed that a total of Rs 2,116 crore has been identified as proceeds of crime accrued by the accused who were found to run these illegal apps. A total of Rs 289.28 crore has also been seized under the Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999, as per the response submitted by the Minister of State for Finance Bhagwat Karad. The question was asked by Syed Nasir Hussain and Dr. Amee Yajnik. They are members of the Rajya Sabha which is the upper house of the Indian Parliament. Why it matters: The response shows that the Indian government has been taking significant strides in reining in lending apps which were found to be engaging in malpractices such as predatory lending and money laundering. Moreover, the response is significant in light of a large-scale ban on foreign loan and betting apps recently which was the first of its kind. Who is legitimate: The response explained that the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has furnished the list of digital lending apps being used by regulated entities to the Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology (MeitY). The ministry has shared the list with app stores and asked intermediaries to ensure that only the apps figured in the list are hosted on their platforms. The status of the whitelist…
