Digital lending platforms LazyPay and Kissht were impacted by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology’s (MeitY) latest move banning 94 mobile apps with links to China, with some customers losing access.
Websites of PayU’s buy-now-pay-later platform LazyPay as well as loan provider Kissht were not working on major telecom networks, following the IT Ministry’s order on 5 February.
“The website has been blocked as per the order of the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology under the IT Act, 2000,” LazyPay’s website read. In response to VCCircle’s queries, a company spokesperson said that its website and app are currently unavailable via a few internet service providers. “Please be assured that we are doing everything to resolve the issue," the spokesperson added.
On the other hand, Kissht’s founder Ranvir Singh said that its app and website are working fine for its customers but noted a Play Store notification related to Kissht.
"The Kissht app and website are working for its customers. We are aware that Google has been asked to take down a list of companies from the Play Store that includes our company, but uncertain about the cause of such a notification. We are meeting officials tomorrow to seek clarification," he added.
Singh also pointed out that “Kissht has no Chinese stakeholders.” Also, South African holding company Naspers owns PayU.
Several LazyPay and Kissht users, who were unable to pay their dues due to the unavailability of platforms, took to Twitter to show their resentment.
“I have an overdue of Rs 1867 but you have blocked me from opening my Lazypay application and even blocked me from your website and I'm trying to repayment thought sms links but it's not working because you have blocked me from all the sources tell me how should I pay?” pointed out a LazyPay user.
In the past few years, the Indian government has tightened its noose on digital lending platforms, particularly those with links to China. Illegal recovery practices being deployed by loan sharks have pushed the regulators to frame policies safeguarding Indian borrowers.
For instance, last year, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) came up with its digital lending guidelines to ensure that the lending platforms maintain transparency with their borrowers and NBFC partners.
The regulator has also recently issued advisories to respective state governments to use their respective law enforcement agencies for keeping a tab on unauthorised digital lending platforms and apps.