App-based loan providers' harassment leads to another suicide in AP
Another incident of harassment by loan app agents came to light in Palnadu district of Andhra Pradesh
PALNADU: Another incident of harassment by loan app agents came to light in Palnadu district of Andhra Pradesh. A young man, Shiva, reportedly borrowed Rs 8,000 from an app-based loan provider. The loan app administrators started harassing him to repay the money. They began pestering Shiva to repay a total of Rs 20,000. Unable to bear the harassment, Shiva died by suicide.
With the growing incidence of people ending their lives due to harassment by app-based loan providers, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy ordered stringent action against such operators. The Chief Minister was reacting to a similar incident where a couple died by suicide, leaving their two toddler-kids orphaned in East Godavari district.
The young couple, who had taken a loan through one of the apps, decided to take the extreme step owing to continuous pestering and harassment by the agents.
The chief minister blatantly condemned the tactics of the app-based loan providers. He also directed the East Godavari district collector to provide financial assistance of Rs 5 lakhs each to the orphaned children of the couple.