Lending transparency

Vetting of apps should not affect innovation

There are pros and cons to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) undertaking an exercise of vetting “loan apps”. The central bank is obviously the agency to check if a given app complies with rules and regulations set in this regard. But if poorly handled, this may raise a possible barrier against competition. Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has asked the RBI to check digital loan apps and compile a “whitelist”. The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MEITY) has been asked to coordinate with the RBI and service providers such as Google Play and Apple App Store to ensure