Archive · 17 Nov 2025
How to Avoid Predatory Loan Apps and Lenders
Imagine you need money and find an app that says it can lend you cash quickly.
Some of these apps are like sneaky tricksters.
They might ask for permission to see all your pictures, messages, and contacts.
Then, they charge super high interest, meaning you have to pay back much more than you borrowed.
If you can't pay, they might threaten to share embarrassing fake pictures of you!
It's like a bad guy trying to trick you.
The good news is that governments and big companies are trying to stop these bad apps.
They've banned many of them, and they are thinking about ways to help you tell the good apps from the bad ones.
Always be careful and check if the app is approved by a real bank or trustworthy company before you borrow any money.
Predatory loan apps continue to exist despite Google banning thousands of illegal apps.
These apps often charge exorbitant interest rates and hidden fees, leading borrowers to repay multiples of their loan amount.
Red flags include apps demanding access to personal data like contacts, images, and messages, and using it for harassment.
Borrowers are advised to check if lending apps are associated with regulated entities and to review app feedback.
The RBI has introduced digital lending directions and proposed a repository to help users distinguish between legal and illegal loan apps.
- Who
- Borrowers seeking personal loans and predatory loan apps.
- What
- Warning about the dangers of predatory loan apps that charge high interest, hidden fees, and use harassment for recovery.
- When
- Ongoing issue, with specific mention of actions taken between 2021-2023 and proposals in August 2024 and May 2025.
- Where
- Across India.
- Why
- To protect individuals from financial exploitation and harassment by illegal and predatory lending practices.
Predatory Loan Apps
Legitimate Lenders
Data Access
Predatory Loan Apps
Demand full access to phone data, including contacts, images, and messages, which can be used for harassment.
Legitimate Lenders
Request only necessary data for loan processing.
Fees and Interest
Predatory Loan Apps
Charge exorbitant interest rates and hidden processing fees (up to 10%), making borrowers pay back multiples of the borrowed amount.
Legitimate Lenders
Charge reasonable interest rates and transparent processing fees.
Recovery Methods
Predatory Loan Apps
Employ predatory measures to recover dues, including threatening borrowers with morphed images.
Legitimate Lenders
Adhere to legal and ethical debt recovery practices.
- Google Action
- Banned over 4,700 illegal loan apps between 2021-2023.
- Zerodha's Nithin Kamath Warning
- Highlighted the menace of loan apps harassing borrowers and charging exorbitant interest.
- RBI Governor's Proposal
- Proposed creating a repository of loan lending apps to distinguish between legal and illegal ones (August 2024).
- RBI Digital Lending Directions
- Released in May 2025 to streamline lending practices and relationships between LSPs and regulated entities.