Indian Government Lifts Ban on PayU's LazyPay, KreditBee, and Kissht, FACE Supports Move

The Indian Government has reportedly lifted the ban on fintech apps like PayU's LazyPay, KreditBee, and Kissht, which were banned earlier this month. The ban was part of the Government of India’s crackdown on Chinese apps. However, there is no clear reason on why the above mentioned apps were banned. What is known is that the Indian Government blocked nearly 138 gambling apps and 94 loan apps over "Chinese linkage" concerns.

Kissht issued a statement on uplifting the ban saying: “The government has shown unrelenting support in ensuring that credible and fully compliant apps such as Kissht continue to work towards greater financial inclusivity in the country. We have served more than 8 million Indians since 2017 and look forward to serving many millions more in the years forward.”

On a similar note, Fintech Association for Consumer Empowerment (FACE), an industry body of fintech lenders, stated that they wholeheartedly support the Central Government's actions and the policy intent to ban predatory lending apps with dubious antecedents. This would ensure that only legitimate lending apps operating under the RBI’s regulatory framework are available, said FACE.

“All of us as industry stakeholders, including fintech entities and investors and lenders, draw huge confidence from the Government’s actions to create a safe and robust ecosystem for consumers and the fact that Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MEITY) is resolving the issue for legitimate entities with the highest priority. Steps like this will improve customer trust in digital lending and expand the market for legitimate entities,” said Sugandh Saxena, CEO at FACE.

“The fintech lenders, who have built their offerings leveraging India’s digital public infrastructure and under the applicable regulations and laws of the land, have long faced the onslaught of illegal lending apps and recognise them as the most significant risk to the entire industry, as our Fintech Lending Risk Barometer Report 2022-23 captured. Such illegal lending apps erode the consumers’ trust and encroach the market of legitimate players,” she added on the matter.