BGMI might be among 348 apps banned by Indian government for data sourcing to China

Google and Apple removed BGMI from their India-specific app stores last week. After the takedown, Google made it clear that the move was in accordance with the Indian government order. Several reports about the BGMI ban were then published online.

The Government of India has not yet responded to fans’ requests. Many are hopeful that the ban will soon be lifted. A recent development suggests that BGMI, an Indian PUBG Mobile version, was one of the 348 applications that were banned by India’s government. This is after a similar question was raised at the Lok Sabha.

Rodmal Nagar (a BJP MP from Rajgarh) asked an unstarred question about ‘apps created by China’. The complete list of questions as well as their answers can be found in the section below.

BGMI: MoS Electronics and Information Technology Answers to Ban on Multiple Apps in India

 
 
 
 
 
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As we have already mentioned, a BJP MP, Rodmal Nagar, asked an unsolicited question to the Minister for Electronics and Information Technology. It was about ‘apps created by China’. The “Unstarred Question No. The ‘Unstarred Question No. 2952’ contained four sub-questions. These questions focused on the following:

  1. Identification of apps that send data to another country.
  2. Response of Government of India to the matter.
  3. Banning of such apps in the country.
  4. China is the source of these applications’ developers

Answering the question unstarred, Rajeev Chandrasekhar (Minister of State for Electronics and Information Technology) said that he was happy to identify the applications sending out information. He also highlighted the importance of the Ministry of Home Affairs in identification.

The first segment was a positive answer. The second part of the answer mentioned 348 applications. It is as follows:

“Ministry of Home Affairs has identified 348 mobile apps that collected users’ data and sent it in an unauthorised manner to servers outside of the country for profiling. MHA requested that the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), block those 348 mobile apps. Such data transmissions violate the sovereignty and integrity of India and the defence of India as well as the security of the State.

He added the following to strengthen his response:

These apps were developed by different countries, including China.

 
 
 
 
 
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Blocking identified apps is primarily due to the unauthorised collection and transmission user data. This same reason was at the center of the recent BGMI ban. Indirectly, Mr. Chandrasekhar suggested that Battlegrounds Mobile India may be one of the 348 apps banned or restricted by the Indian government.

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