MeitY blocked 87 illegal loan apps under Section 69A, govt tells Lok Sabha

What the Record Shows

The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) has blocked a total of 87 illegal loan lending applications under Section 69A of the Information Technology Act, 2000, "after following the due process", the Minister of State in the Ministry of Finance told the Lok Sabha in a written reply dated 21 July 2026. The figure is the government's own cumulative count of loan apps removed through blocking directions, and it sits inside a far wider drive: a separate government briefing records that 1,524 betting and gambling websites and mobile apps were blocked under the same Section 69A power between 2022 and June 2025.

Section 69A allows the central government to direct intermediaries to block public access to online information on specified grounds, through the procedure set out in the Information Technology (Procedure and Safeguards for Blocking for Access of Information by Public) Rules, 2009. It is a preventive access-control power, not an adjudication of criminal guilt. A blocking direction does not name, charge or convict any company or individual, and no person has been named in these directions in the official record reviewed for this report.

The action traces back to an emergency round of blocking first reported in February 2023, when official briefings quoted in the press put the number at 232 applications, comprising 138 betting and gambling apps and 94 instant-loan apps, several with reported offshore or Chinese links. That round followed a reference from the Ministry of Home Affairs and a surge of complaints about the recovery tactics of app-based lenders. MeitY did not publish a list of the blocked apps or a detailed order, and the 232 figure has never appeared in a numbered, published order; it came from official briefings reported at the time.

How It Worked

The mechanism targets distribution rather than conduct. When the Ministry of Home Affairs flags a set of apps, MeitY processes the reference and, if satisfied on the statutory grounds, issues directions requiring intermediaries such as app stores and hosting providers to cut off public access. The aim is to remove the channel through which a predatory loan or a betting product reaches Indian users, rather than to prosecute the people behind it.

That design reflects a practical reality the government has acknowledged. The operating companies behind many of these apps are often offshore, structured to be hard to reach, and able to relaunch under a fresh name within days. Blocking is the blunt instrument of choice precisely because a criminal case against an anonymous offshore operator is slow and frequently impossible, whereas a direction can be issued quickly. The trade-off is that blocked apps have repeatedly reappeared under new listings, so the count of apps taken down understates how often the same operation has been disrupted and rebuilt.

The directions themselves are confidential. Rule 16 of the 2009 Blocking Rules requires that requests and the actions taken on them be kept confidential, which is why MeitY does not routinely publish the list of blocked apps or its reasoning. The 87 loan apps and the 1,524 betting and gambling sites and apps are the government's own aggregate figures, given to Parliament, and are the most authoritative numbers on the public record. Alongside the power, the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2025, notified on 22 October 2025, now authorise sectoral regulators to issue blocking directions of their own.

Who Lost Money

The people the drive is meant to protect are small borrowers, concentrated in Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Karnataka, where enforcement agencies flagged extortion and harassment of people who had taken small app loans. According to the complaints that triggered the 2023 reference, borrowers were pursued by recovery agents, threatened, and in some cases had contact lists and photographs on their phones weaponised against them. The effective annualised cost of these loans was reported to run into the hundreds and sometimes thousands of per cent once fees and rollovers were counted.

It is worth being precise about what a blocking action delivers for those borrowers. This is not a monetary action: no assets were attached, no fine was levied on any operator, and blocking an app does not refund a rupee to anyone overcharged or harassed. Its value is preventive. It stops new users from downloading a flagged app, which reduces the flow of fresh victims, but it does not recover money already taken or resolve the debts of people already caught.

Where It Stands Now

As of the government's most recent replies to Parliament, the official cumulative figures are 87 illegal loan lending apps blocked under Section 69A, and 1,524 betting and gambling websites and mobile apps blocked between 2022 and June 2025. The 87 is lower than the "94 loan apps" reported from the February 2023 briefing, a gap that reflects both the different basis of the counts and the fact that some apps were unblocked or simply relaunched; the parliamentary figure counts only those blocked through completed due process under Section 69A.

The scaffolding around the power has been strengthened. The Reserve Bank of India issued the Reserve Bank of India (Digital Lending) Directions, 2025 on 8 May 2025, with mandatory provisions on recovery conduct, data privacy and grievance redressal. From 1 July 2025 the RBI has operationalised a public directory of Digital Lending Apps deployed by its regulated entities, so a borrower can check whether an app is genuinely tied to a regulated lender. Complaints can be lodged through the National Cybercrime Reporting Portal (cybercrime.gov.in), the helpline 1930, and the SACHET portal.

A Section 69A blocking direction is an executive preventive measure, not a court verdict. It contains no finding of guilt, names no accused, and the presumption of innocence is not displaced by it; no company or individual has been convicted by virtue of an app being blocked, and directions can themselves be reviewed and challenged. Any criminal liability would have to be established separately, on evidence, before a court.

What It Means

The clearest lesson is what blocking can and cannot do. It is fast and it narrows distribution, but it treats the symptom rather than the cause: as long as an offshore operator can spin up a new app and a new listing, a takedown buys time rather than closure. That is why the government has paired blocking with rules aimed at the regulated ecosystem and with a verification directory, which is where an ordinary borrower actually gains protection.

The single most useful step is to verify before you borrow. Before installing any lending app, check whether it appears in the RBI's Digital Lending Apps directory and whether it is tied to a regulated entity; a legitimate lender discloses its regulated-entity partner, full terms and an all-in annual cost. An app that promises instant money with no paperwork, demands access to your contacts and photos, or quotes only a daily or weekly fee shows the documented markers of the apps this drive was built to remove. To see what a fair personal loan costs, you can model the numbers with an EMI calculator and compare the all-in rate against what an app is charging. For anyone already facing recovery-agent harassment, our guide to borrower harassment and predatory lending apps sets out the routes available, and more actions in this area are collected in the enforcement archive.

FAQ

Has a court found the apps or their operators guilty of a crime?

No. A Section 69A blocking direction is a preventive access-control measure, not a criminal verdict. It does not name, charge or convict any company or person, the presumption of innocence is not displaced by it, and any criminal liability would have to be proved separately before a court. Related recovery-conduct cases are pursued independently by state police.

How many apps has the government blocked?

The government told Parliament that MeitY has blocked a total of 87 illegal loan lending apps under Section 69A after following due process, and a separate briefing records 1,524 betting and gambling websites and mobile apps blocked between 2022 and June 2025. The widely reported February 2023 figure of 232 apps came from official briefings, not a published order.

Why does the government not publish the list of blocked apps?

Rule 16 of the Information Technology (Procedure and Safeguards for Blocking for Access of Information by Public) Rules, 2009 requires blocking requests and the actions taken on them to be kept confidential. That is why MeitY gives aggregate figures in parliamentary replies rather than a public, itemised list of apps and reasons.

Does blocking an app get my money back?

No. Blocking is preventive: it stops new users from reaching a flagged app but attaches no assets, levies no fine and refunds nothing to existing borrowers. Recovery of money taken, and action on harassment, run through separate police complaints and the cybercrime reporting channels.

How do I check whether a lending app is legitimate?

Check the RBI's Digital Lending Apps directory, operational since 1 July 2025, which lists apps deployed by the RBI's regulated entities so you can verify a claimed association. A legitimate lender discloses its regulated-entity partner, full terms and an all-in annual cost. Complaints can be lodged at cybercrime.gov.in or on the helpline 1930.

This report is based on the Press Information Bureau statement of the Ministry of Finance dated 21 July 2026, the Ministry of Finance statement dated 17 March 2026 and the government briefing on online betting and gambling enforcement, reviewed on 30 July 2026.