ED probing criminal proceeds of Rs 2,116 crore acquired from illegal loan apps: Govt

The Directorate of Enforcement (ED) has initiated several cases under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, where the proceeds of crime were generated and acquired through illegal loan apps, the finance ministry said in a written response to a question in Rajya Sabha on Tuesday.

In these cases, total proceeds of crime amounting to Rs 2,116 crore has been identified, out of which Rs 859.15 crore has been seized by ED under the PMLA, the government informed the Parliament.

Further, assets amounting to Rs 289.28 crore have also been seized under section 37A of the Foreign Exchange Management Act, the finance ministry added to the written answer.


The response was to a question regarding the government’s efforts towards addressing issues of money laundering through illegal loan apps.

The finance ministry said that RBI had furnished a list of digital lending apps used by regulated entities (of RBI) to MeitY, which in turn, has shared the list with respective intermediaries (app stores).

MeitY has requested these intermediaries to ensure that "only the apps figuring in the list" (which are used by regulated entities) should be hosted on their app stores.

The government added that RBI has issued a master circular, advising banks and financial institutions to follow certain customer identification procedures for opening of accounts and monitoring of transactions of suspicious nature.

What’s happened?

The Indian government, on Sunday had issued orders to block 138 betting and gambling apps and 94 quick loan-providing apps on an “urgent” and “emergency” basis for “improper data storage and transfer” to other countries as well as money laundering, ET had reported.

ET first reported on Monday that non-Chinese loan apps like PayU’s LazyPay, Kissht, among others, were also a part of the ban. The home and IT ministries, along with the RBI will hold discussions over the next few days, ET reported on February 8, after fintech firms met with officials on Tuesday.

Founders of several lending platforms met officials of the Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology (MeitY) in New Delhi on Tuesday, people who attended these meetings told ET, a day after internet service providers started taking down websites of online lending companies.