New Delhi, June 1 -- Sairam Krishna, a 38-year-old information technology (IT) solution architect from Mumbai, with a salaried job of Rs.30 lakh a year, isn't the stereotype of a payday-loan borrower. But after a medical emergency in 2023, he found himself trapped in the quagmire of short-tenure digital credit.

"I have four elderly people in my household. I am the only earning person. My wife doesn't earn. And I have a kid as well," Krishna said, describing the pressures that pushed him toward such borrowings.

For him, the path into payday credit did not begin with fringe apps, but with more established loan-search platforms. After trying portals such as Paisa Bazaar for loans and finding that mainstream lenders rejected him, he began g...