Digital Lending Enforcement Tracker

Hero Fincorp Limited

RBI said Hero Fincorp Limited collected excess interest from certain loan accounts, in breach of its directions on Fair Practices Code for Lenders – Charging of Interest, and imposed a penalty of ₹10 lakh.

KLM Axiva Finvest Limited

RBI said KLM Axiva Finvest Limited did not pay certain borrowers the surplus realised from auctions of their pledged gold over and above the loan outstanding, in breach of its directions on auction procedure, and imposed a penalty of ₹2.70 lakh.

Cholamandalam Investment and Finance Company Limited

The Supreme Court held that an NBFC's night-time repossession of a borrower's truck without the notice required by the loan agreement was arbitrary and violated Articles 14 and 21, awarded ₹10 lakh compensation, and directed the RBI to take effective steps to secure genuine compliance with its recovery guidelines by NBFCs and banks.

Vardhan (loan app)

Telangana police registered a case against unidentified people claiming to represent the 'Vardhan' loan app who allegedly harassed a woman over a relative's loan and sent her morphed images.

Hinduja Leyland Finance Limited

RBI said Hinduja Leyland Finance Limited did not put in place a Board-approved policy on pricing of microfinance loans, in breach of its directions on Pricing of Microfinance Loans, and other lapses, and imposed a penalty of ₹6.20 lakh.

Unnamed loan-app extortion network

Noida cyber crime police said they arrested six people in Sector 141 who allegedly targeted borrowers of private loan apps through video calls and edited obscene images, threatening to send them to relatives and routing extorted money through UPI, QR codes and mule accounts; police put the total at about ₹25 lakh.

Horizon Cash Service; Money Score Monitor; Zelicredit

MediaNama, citing Moneycontrol, reported that I4C issued a notice on 19 August under Section 79(3)(b) of the IT Act and Rule 3(1)(d) of the IT Rules, 2021 directing Google to disable access to three loan apps within three hours, and that Google complied.

LoanOrbit; Hisab; Nexus Loan; One Fund; Credit Factor; Mobile Credit Prairie

Outlook Business, citing a notice reviewed by Moneycontrol, reported that I4C directed Google on 7 August to remove six loan apps from the Play Store within three hours and that the apps had been taken down by 12 August.

Infinity Fincorp Solutions Private Limited

RBI said Infinity Fincorp Solutions Private Limited did not disclose in its application forms and sanction letters its approach to risk gradation and its rationale for charging different interest rates to different categories of borrowers, in breach of its Fair Practice Code directions, and other lapses, and imposed a penalty of ₹5.40 lakh.

Five loan apps on Google Play (not named in the report)

The Week reported that I4C issued a notice dated 21 July directing Google to remove and disable access to five allegedly malicious loan apps on the Play Store within three hours.

Mast Money

Nagpur cyber police said they arrested a person in Bhopal alleged to have developed the 'Mast Money' loan app, which police said took borrowers' phone data and was used to threaten them into paying far more than they borrowed; police estimated losses at about ₹200 crore.

Bank of Baroda

RBI said Bank of Baroda collected interest higher than the contracted rate in certain loan accounts, in breach of its Fair Practices Code for Lenders directions, and other lapses, and imposed a penalty of ₹63.60 lakh.

Can Fin Homes Limited

RBI said Can Fin Homes Limited did not clearly indicate the split between interest and principal in loan instalments collected from borrowers, in breach of its Fair Practices Code directions, and imposed a penalty of ₹2.70 lakh.

Five Star Business Finance Limited

RBI said Five Star Business Finance Limited did not disclose in its application forms and sanction letters its approach to risk gradation and its rationale for charging different interest rates to different categories of borrowers, in breach of its Fair Practice Code directions, and other lapses, and imposed a penalty of ₹6.20 lakh.

InstaPay

Kerala Police's Crime Branch (Kannur) said it arrested a telecaller who allegedly worked for the digital lending platform InstaPay and repeatedly pressed a student to repay a ₹15,000 loan, taking the number arrested in the case to four.

Repco Home Finance Limited

RBI said Repco Home Finance Limited did not disclose in its application forms and sanction letters its approach to risk gradation and its rationale for charging different interest rates to different categories of borrowers, in breach of its Fair Practice Code directions, and imposed a penalty of ₹70,000.

Unnamed loan-app network

Rajgarh police said they arrested four people in Amethi, Uttar Pradesh, from an interstate gang that allegedly promoted fake loan apps, took users' contacts and photos, sent morphed images and posed as recovery agents to extort payments, which were converted to USDT.

Unnamed online loan apps

Mumbai Police's Crime Branch Unit 2 said it arrested six people working for online loan apps after a bank employee complained of threats and abuse of his family over loan recoveries; a magistrate remanded them to police custody until 30 May.

City Union Bank Limited

RBI said City Union Bank Limited levied loan-related charges on certain agriculture priority sector loans of up to ₹25,000, in breach of its directions on priority sector loan accounts, and other lapses, and imposed a penalty of ₹10.10 lakh.

IIFL Finance Limited

RBI said IIFL Finance Limited did not pay certain borrowers the surplus realised from auctions of their pledged gold over and above the loan outstanding, in breach of its Scale Based Regulation Directions, 2023, and imposed a penalty of ₹3.10 lakh.

Muthoot Housing Finance Company Limited

RBI said Muthoot Housing Finance Company Limited did not disclose in its application forms and sanction letters its approach to risk gradation and its rationale for charging different interest rates to different categories of borrowers, in breach of its Fair Practice Code directions, and imposed a penalty of ₹80,000.

Instant Funds; Insta Pay app

Kerala Police (Chakkarakkal station, Kannur) said they arrested three people allegedly associated with 'Instant Funds', whose 'Insta Pay' app police said lent a student ₹15,000 at 36% interest and then repeatedly pressed him to repay.

Unnamed loan-app network

Delhi Police said they arrested six people allegedly linked to a transnational syndicate that used fake loan apps to obtain victims' phone data, threatened them with morphed images to force inflated repayments, and routed the money through mule accounts and cryptocurrency.

Indostar Capital Finance Limited

The Uttarakhand High Court held that an NBFC's repossession or attempted repossession of two transporters' financed vehicles through coercive means without due process was illegal and violated Articles 14, 19(1)(g) and 21, ordered the vehicles restored, and said RBI recovery guidelines are binding rather than advisory.

Six loan apps identified by package name: com.line.flex.credit.line; oi.bottalk.ctara; com.credit.path.service.customers.tech.app; com.ganeshfast.personal.loan.app; com.lakhvad.ankganit.app; com.jackloans.potpro

The Week reported that I4C issued a notice dated 30 March directing Google to disable access to six allegedly malicious loan apps on the Play Store within 36 hours, invoking the IT Act, 2000 and the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023.

Bank of India

RBI said Bank of India collected ad-hoc service, inspection or processing charges in certain priority sector loan accounts with sanctioned amounts up to ₹25,000, in breach of its Priority Sector Lending directions, and other lapses, and imposed a penalty of ₹58.50 lakh.

Mahindra & Mahindra Financial Services Limited

RBI said Mahindra & Mahindra Financial Services Limited levied revised foreclosure charges on certain borrower accounts without a suitable condition in their loan agreements, in breach of its Fair Practices Code directions, and other lapses, and imposed a penalty of ₹11.50 lakh.

Vita Merchants’ Co-operative Bank Ltd.

RBI said Vita Merchants’ Co-operative Bank Ltd. did not communicate the levy of penal charges, and the reasons for them, to certain borrowers, in breach of its directions on Fair Lending Practice - Penal Charges in Loan Accounts, and other lapses, and imposed a penalty of ₹3.10 lakh.

Navi Finserv Limited

RBI said Navi Finserv Limited contacted customers before 8:00 a.m. and after 7:00 p.m. to recover overdue loans and did not follow the due protocol when sending messages to customers, in breach of its directions on Recovery Agents, and imposed a penalty of ₹3.80 lakh.

Standard Chartered Bank; Shaha Finlease Pvt. Ltd.

The Karnataka State Consumer Commission held that a demand for about ₹33.83 lakh on a credit card account closed in 2010, pursued through notices, calls and messages, was an unfair trade practice, and raised the compensation payable by the two opposite parties, which did not appear, to ₹5 lakh.

Pinnacle Capital Solutions Private Limited

RBI said Pinnacle Capital Solutions Private Limited obtained a default loss guarantee from a lending service provider that exceeded five per cent of its outstanding loan portfolio, in breach of its directions on Default Loss Guarantee in Digital Lending, and imposed a penalty of ₹1 lakh.

Reserve Bank of India (respondent)

The Delhi High Court, hearing a public-interest petition on borrowers' data protection by digital lending apps, issued notice and directed RBI to file an affidavit within six weeks setting out the action taken to enforce its Digital Lending Directions, 2025 and against entities found in violation.

Shaha Finlease Private Limited

RBI said Shaha Finlease Private Limited failed to put in place a system for periodic review of its compliance with the Fair Practices Code, and imposed a penalty of ₹10,000.