Bhubaneswar: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Friday cautioned people not to fall prey to companies/ firms offering loans online or through mobile apps.
In a statement, the RBI has advised people to be remain alert regarding such unscrupulous activities and verify the antecedents of such companies.
According to RBI, legitimate public lending activities can be undertaken by Banks, Non-Banking Financial Companies (NBFCs) registered with RBI and other entities who are regulated by the State Governments under statutory provisions, such as the money lending acts of the concerned states.
Moreover, consumers should never share copies of KYC documents with unidentified persons, unverified/unauthorised Apps.
One should report such Apps/Bank Account information associated with the Apps to concerned law enforcement agencies or use Sachet portal (https://sachet.rbi.org.in) to file an online complaints.
There have been reports about individuals/small businesses falling prey to growing number of unauthorised digital lending platforms/Mobile Apps on promises of getting loans in quick and hassle-free manner.
These reports also refer to excessive rates of interest and additional hidden charges being demanded from borrowers; adoption of unacceptable and high-handed recovery methods; and misuse of agreements to access data on the mobile phones of the borrowers.
Reserve Bank Of India has also mandated that digital lending platforms which are used on behalf of Banks and NBFCs should disclose name of the Bank(s) or NBFC(s) upfront to the customers.
The names and addresses of the NBFCs registered with the Reserve Bank can be accessed here and the portal for filing complaints against the entities regulated by the RBI can be accessed through https://cms.rbi.org.in.
(With PIB Inputs)