In the last few years, the government of India has ordered to ban around 250 Chinese apps citing them to be “prejudicial to the sovereignty and integrity of India, defence of India, security of the state and public order”. Apps like TikTok, Xender, Shein, Camscanner were widely used in India and had millions of downloads. Ban on popular mobile games like PUBG Mobile and Garena Free Fire shocked not only the players but also the Esports community of the country.

According to the government authorities, these apps were purportedly gathering sensitive user data and requesting important permissions. It is said that servers in the hostile nation are receiving and using the acquired data improperly.

Recently, the Indian version of PUBG Mobile called BGMI or Battlegrounds Mobile India was removed from the Google Play store and Apple App store. The battle royale game gained a lot of popularity in India, crossing over 100 million users in just a year.

BGMI has been reportedly blocked under Section 69A of the IT Act, the same section earlier used to ban PUBG. While BGMI creator Krafton, a South Korean company, is trying to work with the Indian government to remove the ban, there are not many details on when the ban will be removed. Notably, people who already have the game downloaded can still access it. Hence, the game hasn’t been completely removed from the servers.