Banned websites, apps given 48 hrs to prove genuineness: Official

The IT ministry has given 48 hours to banned websites and apps to prove their genuineness, a senior government official said on Thursday.

Another senior official from the ministry said the ban has been imposed on the platforms because their businesses were not genuine.

"Why would there be any ban if they were genuine? Action has been taken on them," the ministry official said.

The government last week ordered blocking of 232 apps operated by overseas entities, including Chinese, for being involved in betting, gambling and unauthorised loan services.

"They have been given 48 hours under the rule to submit documents. The decision will be taken based on their presentation. It is going on now," another senior official said.

The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) issued blocking orders on Saturday, based on an emergency request issued by a nodal officer of the home ministry, against 138 betting and gambling websites and 94 loan apps that were engaging in illegal money laundering and posing a threat to financial security of the country.

Fintech firms LazyPay, IndiaBulls Home Loans and Kissht are among the list of blocked websites.

As per the list, MeitY issued orders to block lazypay.in, which is a subsidiary of Dutch investment firm Prosus.

The website www.indiabullshomeloans.com is operated by housing finance company Indiabulls Housing Finance Ltd, while Kissht.com is operated by RBI-registered NBFC ONEMi Technology Solutions Private Limited.

The other websites in the block list include buddyloan.com, cashtm.in, kreditbee.en.aptoide.com, faircent.com, true-balance.en.uptodown.com, and mpokket.en.aptoide.com.

Fintech firm mPokket said an app impersonating it has been blocked by the government and it has no link with the blocked platform.

"The domain in the list issued by MeiTY this week, mpokket.en.aptoide.com, is a clear instance of impersonation and has no affiliation with mPokket whatsoever. Aptoide is a third-party app store with which we have no official or unofficial partnership," mPokket said in a statement.