Chinese govt-linked companies harnessing personal data of Indians under govt lens

The Registrar of Companies (RoC) under the Ministry of Corporate Affairs has set up cells across India to investigate reports of shell companies involving Chinese linked with betting and dating apps. Chinese companies capitalised on India’s growing digital sector to harness the personal data of Indian citizens. Several such loan apps promised easy money and burdened users with hefty interest, the report added.

Licences of as many as 40 non-banking finance companies (NBFCs) with links to Chinese citizens may be cancelled. One such app Shopee stopped operations abruptly in March after complaints were raised against it. One app in which Shopee’s parent investor had a stake was banned in the aftermath of the Galwan incident.

The Indian government is investigating some Chinese companies found in violation of export-import laws and GST-related manipulations. A favourite tool of such GST offenders is fake inputs to avail input tax credits.

An ET report in March highlighted several cases of illegal activities conducted by Chinese entities directly or through proxies across sectors like telecom, higher education, and small finance. The report also highlighted that more than a dozen Chinese loan apps targeting low-income users are on the radar of Indian agencies.