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Govt blocks websites of fintech firms operated by overseas entities

Action following Home ministry's request, firms accused of money laundering

fintech-reuters Representative image | Reuters

Fintech firms LazyPay, IndiaBulls Home Loans and Kissht are among the list of blocked websites issued by the Ministry of Electronics and IT, according to sources.

The government has blocked 232 apps operated by overseas entities, including Chinese, for being involved in betting, gambling and unauthorised loan service.

As per the list, the Ministry of Electronics and IT (Meity) issued orders to block lazypay.in, which is a subsidiary of Dutch investment firm Prosus.

The list includes www.indiabullshomeloans.com operated by housing finance company Indiabulls Housing Finance Ltd and Kissht.com which is operated by RBI-registered NBFC firm ONEMi Technology Solutions Pvt Ltd.

Meity issued blocking orders on Saturday based on an emergency request issued by a nodal officer of the home ministry. “These 138 betting and gambling websites and 94 loan apps were engaging in illegal money laundering and were posing threat to the financial security of our nation," an official source had said.

The other websites in the block list include buddyloan.com, cashtm.in, kreditbee.en.aptoide.com, faircent.com, true-balance.en.uptodown.com and others. When checked randomly, some of the websites were operational on Tuesday evening.

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