A senior official of the Security and Exchange Commission of Pakistan has informed that Google has agreed to ban non-licensed digital lending apps in Pakistan from Play Store. Only 10 licensed Non-Bank Finance Companies (NBFCs) have permission to lend money. Different regulatory frameworks govern these apps as they fall within the domain of the Security Exchange Commission of Pakistan.
While addressing a workshop in Islamabad, the Executive Director of SECP, Khalida Habib, said that the commission had issued guidelines to tackle concerns involving data breaches and coercive recovery practices of licensed digital lending companies. She said that Google agreed to ban all non-licensed digital lending apps from Google Play which is known as Google Play Store in Pakistan, most of which operate from abroad.
The Security Exchange Commission of Pakistan and the State Bank of Pakistan coordinated on the issue, after which the list will be finalized. Khalida Habib said, “Under the new rules, the cut-off date for the digital lending firms to update their apps is March 27, and the final list [of apps to be removed] will be prepared after it.”
The Executive Director of SECP said that in January this year, 58 unauthorized digital lending apps were removed from GoogleÂ’s Play Store after negotiation. She added that SECP had taken up the matter with the concerned regulatory authorities, including the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority, Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), National Telecommunication and Information Technology Security Board, State Bank of Pakistan, and Google and Apple for the removal of unauthorized apps.
It was told in the workshop, “By the end of next month, complete white-list apps of NBFCs and the banks will be prepared and forwarded to Google.”
With the passage of time and the increasing number of digital lending apps which allow needy people to short-term loans without collateral, many non-licensed entities have appeared that indulge in coercive and unethical lending practices.
Keeping in view the concerns of the people of Pakistan, the SECP has taken action and issued ‘Circular 15’ to protect the citizens. The circular stipulated minimum mandatory disclosure for the lenders before loan disbursement.