Till Debt Do Us Apart

It’s a giant mobile-digital loan scandal. Like a tarantula’s, its web stretches outwards to Hong Kong, Singapore, Indonesia and China. In India, the reach is seen in several states such as Delhi, Maharashtra, Telangana, Haryana, Tamil Nadu, and Karnataka. Tens of thousands of borrowers are trapped in this net’s grip. Most were harassed, abused, and vilified, and some committed suicide. Hundreds of global and Indian companies, and thousands of thuggish recovery agents are involved in it. Months after the scam was unearthed, the investigators were unable to put a figure on its size. In Telangana, contends Shikha Goel, Hyderabad’s Additional Commissioner of Police, Rs 25,000 crore was involved, which included repeated loan deals. The state police froze Rs 350 crore in 435 bank accounts. But this is only the tip of an iceberg. As the central enforcement directorate...