"No Proposal To Regulate Financial Influencers, But...": Finance Minister

Nirmala Sitharaman added that the government is working to clamp down on apps which are fleecing investors.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman warned the public on Sunday about the risks of following financial influencers on social media platforms, saying that many of them are driven by ulterior motives or promote fraudulent schemes.

Speaking at an event in Bengaluru, Ms Sitharaman said that while there are some genuine experts who offer sound advice on investing and saving, there are also many who mislead people or lure them into dubious apps that promise high returns but are actually Ponzi schemes.

"I have no proposal to regulate them at this stage," she said. "But yes, a word of caution is important. If there are three or four people giving us good advice, there are seven out of 10 who are probably driven by some other considerations."

"There are also apps which are coming out saying that your money will fetch you this much. Many of them are Ponzi. We should double-check. We have to be careful," she said.