111 apps offering jobs, loans banned, Senate told

Caretaker Interior Minister Sarfraz Bugti on Monday informed the Senate that the government had not only blacklisted 111 social media apps offering online interest-based loans but also the Cyber Wing of Federal Investigation Agency confiscated Rs1.8 billion interest amount.

Winding up discussion on a motion moved by Senator Mushtaq Ahmed about mushrooming of the social media apps offering online interest-based loans in the country, Bugti said that the FIA had also registered cases against those who were running such mobile apps.

Their cases were pending before courts of law, he added.

He said that soon after the emergence of the issue, the government had started actions against the apps which were not registered with the Security Exchange Commission of Pakistan.

However, he said the FIA’s capacity regarding cyber-crimes was very limited, adding that there were also some law-related issues.

Earlier, Senator Ahmed said many students and educated people had been trapped in the clutches of these social media apps offering online interest-based loans.

Initially the apps offered loans to the students and unemployed people on nominal interest but later, they were forced to pay hefty interest.