Starting from June 2020, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology(MeitY) blocked more than 250 Chinese apps in India. Some of these apps like TikTok made some changes in their policies and requested MeitY to revoke the ban. After reviewing their applications, MeitY replied that the order to block them will continue.
No Relief for Earlier Banned Chinese Apps
When different media portals contacted TikTok about Indian Operations, TikTok spokesperson said, “we got a reply from the ministry about ban continuation. Tiktok Legal Experts are evaluating the notice. We will soon reply to the concerned authorities. TikTok was among the first companies to comply with the Government of India directive issued on June 29, 2020”,
“We always try to follow the local rules and regulations and do our best to clear doubts and concerns of the government. Privacy and security of the users is our topmost preference.” The spokesperson further added. TikTok is the most downloaded non-gaming app worldwide in 2020.
Ministry banned These apps under Section 69A of the Information Technology Act in India. As per the official statement from Indian Officials, these apps are against the sovereignty and integrity of India. Further, they are a threat to the defense and security of India.
MeitY informed that these apps we’re storing and transmitting the Indian users’ data to the third party outside India. These unauthorized activities forced the ministry to ban their operations with immediate effects.
US administration under Ex-President Trump also imposed restrictions on Chinese businesses in the US. Recently, the US banned Xiaomi operations. US is also worried about the unauthorized access of its citizens by the Chinese Military and the Communist Government of China.
Future Aspects and Brief History about Chinese Banned Apps
Indian authorities blocked 59 Chinese apps including TikTok in the first notice given in June 2020. Later in September 2020, the Indian ministry banned 118 more apps including PUBG Mobile.
With a new notice in November 2020, the government further removed 43 Chinese apps from India. The complete list of banned apps also includes the 47 clone apps of earlier 59 banned apps. Though the list of those 47 clone apps is not shared by the Indian Government. Among these banned apps, TikTok and PUBG mobile are continuously trying to restart their operations.
PUBG mobile India has distanced itself from Chinese company Tencent. Earlier there was news that PUBG Mobile India may relaunch in 2021. Till now, the Indian Government did not provide any clearance to the game.
FAU-G, the Indian Version of PUBG, announced that it will officially launch on 26 January 2021. Registrations are already open on the Play Store. The Game will be fully dedicated to the Indian Army. Game situations and the theme will be totally based on the real heroics of the Indian Army.
As per the latest reports, Indian Officials may ban more Chinese apps soon. This time, FinTech Chinese apps are under the radar of the Enforcement Directorate(ED) and Criminal Investigation Departments(CID). Payment Gateways like RazorPay and PayTM are instructed to stop the transactions of more than 24 Chinese lending companies. The authorities further questioned these payment gateways to facilitate the cash flow of these dubious companies without proper KYC(Know Your customer).
