Google has updated its Google Play developer policy, which became effective on Wednesday, May 11th. Personal loan apps and Accessibility API usage have been addressed.
Google has updated its Google Play developer policy, requiring all personal loan apps in India to provide additional proof of eligibility. The updated policy takes effect on Wednesday, May 11th.
What Google wants from personal loan app developers is a copy of the Reserve Bank of India’s license (RBI). If the developer is not directly involved in money lending activities and is simply providing a platform to facilitate money lending by Non-Banking Financial Companies (NBFCs) or banks, they must provide a declaration stating this, in addition to the names of all NBFCs and banks prominently displayed in the app’s description on Google Play Store.
“Ensure that the name of the associated registered business name provided through your declaration matches the name of the developer account,” the tech giant said in a support post.
India, Indonesia, and the Philippines are subject to additional proof requirements.
Google has also issued new guidelines for the Accessibility Application Protocol Interface (API), which go into effect on Wednesday. According to the new guidelines, the Accessibility API cannot be used to change user settings without their permission or to prevent users from disabling or uninstalling any app or service unless authorized by a parent or guardian via a parental control app or by authorized admins via enterprise management software.
Furthermore, Google stated, “The Accessibility API cannot be used to circumvent Android’s built-in privacy controls and notifications; or to change or leverage the user interface in a deceptive or otherwise illegal manner.”
In addition, Google has addressed the app’s use of the Accessibility API for call recording, stating that “the Accessibility API is not designed and cannot be requested for remote call audio recording.” Google now requires that any app that uses the Accessibility API document its use in the Google Play listing.
Google Play’s developer policy has been updated. The tech behemoth has announced that it will now require personal loan apps in India to provide additional proof of eligibility. The new policy goes into effect on May 11. A personal loan app is one that “lends money from one individual, organization, or entity to an individual consumer on a nonrecurring basis, not for the purpose of financing the purchase of a fixed asset or education,” according to Google Play Store policies. These new proof requirements apply to India, Indonesia, and the Philippines.
Fill out the Personal Loan app declaration form for India.
According to the new rules, these apps must complete the Personal Loan App Declaration for India and provide the necessary documentation to support their declaration.
Send a copy of the license to Google for review.
If an app is licensed to provide personal loans by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), it must submit a copy of the license for Google’s review.
The nature of the activity must be clearly communicated.
If you are not directly engaged in money lending activities and only provide a platform for registered Non-Banking Financial Companies (NBFCs) or banks to lend to users, you must accurately reflect this in the declaration.
NBFC and bank names are highlighted in the app’s description.
Furthermore, all registered NBFCs and banks’ names must be prominently displayed in the app’s description.
The name of the developer account should be the same as the name of the associated registered business.
The guidelines also state that the developer account name must match the name of the associated registered business name as specified in your declaration.
