Online loans are turning out to be ‘death online’ in actual terms. The recent news of a young man in Rawalpindi having committed suicide after harassment by shady characters behind a loan app has once again brought the spotlight on the issue.
This business is flourishing in Pakistan due to inflation and daily increase in commodity and medicine prices as well as utility bills. This forces an individual to fall into this vicious trap. It is not the first time that such cases of high-handedness by loan companies have made headlines, but no proper action was taken by the agencies concerned. The same is apparently happening in the wake of the recent tragedy.
The practice of trapping vulnerable people by loan sharks is actually quite old, and it works best in countries facing financial crisis. These loan sharks operate all over the world, both legally and illegally, controlled by mafias. Operating through apps, the phone data of the borrower is hacked to be used for blackmail by their recovery units.
The Sindh government took the right action by passing a law against issuing interest-based loan by private companies. But the question is, who will give an interest-free loan?
It is a pity that individuals in dire need of money are turned down by the same banks that dole out huge amounts to people with the right connections. Such loans are hardly ever returned. They are all eventually written off.
MALIK UL QUDDOOS
KARACHI
