Indian Ministry of Information & Technology has now banned PUBG Mobile and 117 other Chinese apps in India. The announcement comes after the fresh tension between India and China over the border row in Ladakh.
According to the ministry, the games and apps have been banned under Section 69A of the Information Technology Act because “they are engaged in activities which are prejudicial to sovereignty and integrity of India, defense of India, the security of the state and public order.”
While still working, PUBG Mobile will be completely banned in India. Telecom operators will be ordered to blacklist the game in the country while Google Play Store and App Store will remove it from their respective app stores for Indian users.
Counting in the previously banned 59 and 47 Chinese apps, the government has banned a total of 224 Chinese apps till date.
Also, read- 15 Popular Chinese Apps and Their Indian and US Alternatives
List of Freshly Banned Apps in India: PUBG Mobile, PUBG Lite, and more.
The list of freshly banned apps includes PUBG Mobile, PUBG Lite, APUS Launcher, CamCard, U-Dictionary, Rules of Survival, Knives Out, WeChat, LifeAfter, and more amongst others.
You can check the full list given below:
- APUS Launcher Pro- Theme, Live Wallpapers, Smart
- APUS Launcher-Theme, Call Show, Wallpaper, HideApps
- APUS Security -Antivirus, Phone Security, Cleaner
- APUS Turbo Cleaner 2020- Junk Cleaner, Anti-Virus
- APUS Flashlight-Free & Bright
- Cut Cut – Cut Out & Photo Background Editor
- Baidu
- Baidu Express Edition
- FaceU – Inspire your Beauty
- ShareSave by Xiaomi: Latest gadgets, amazing deals
- CamCard – Business Card Reader
- CamCard Business
- CamCard for Salesforce
- CamOCR
- InNote
- VooV Meeting – Tencent Video Conferencing
- Super Clean – Master of Cleaner, Phone Booster
- WeChat reading
- Government WeChat
- Small Q brush
- Tencent Weiyun
- Pitu
- WeChat Work
- Cyber Hunter
- Cyber Hunter Lite
- Knives Out-No rules, just fight!
- Super Mecha Champions
- LifeAfter
- Dawn of Isles
- Ludo World-Ludo Superstar
- Chess Rush
- PUBG MOBILE Nordic Map: Livik
- PUBG MOBILE LITE
- Rise of Kingdoms: Lost Crusade
- Art of Conquest: Dark Horizon
- Dank Tanks
- Warpath
- Game of Sultans
- Gallery Vault – Hide Pictures And Videos
- Smart AppLock (App Protect)
- Message Lock (SMS Lock)-Gallery Vault Developer Team
- Hide App-Hide Application Icon
- AppLock
- AppLock Lite
- Dual Space – Multiple Accounts & App Cloner
- ZAKZAK Pro – Live chat & video chat online
- ZAKZAK LIVE: live-streaming & video chat app
- Music – Mp3 Player
- Music Player – Audio Player & 10 Bands Equalizer
- HD Camera Selfie Beauty Camera
- Cleaner – Phone Booster
- Web Browser & Fast Explorer
- Video Player All Format for Android
- Photo Gallery HD & Editor
- Photo Gallery & Album
- Music Player – Bass Booster – Free Download
- HD Camera – Beauty Cam with Filters & Panorama
- HD Camera Pro & Selfie Camera
- Music Player – MP3 Player & 10 Bands Equalizer
- Gallery HD
- Web Browser – Fast, Privacy & Light Web Explorer
- Web Browser – Secure Explorer
- Music Player – Audio Player
- Video Player – All Format HD Video Player
- Lamour Love All Over The World
- Amour- video chat & call all over the world.
- MV Master – Make Your Status Video & Community
- MV Master – Best Video Maker & Photo Video Editor
- APUS Message Center-Intelligent management
- LivU Meet new people & Video chat with strangers
- Carrom Friends: Carrom Board & Pool Game-
- Ludo All Star- Play Online Ludo Game & Board Games
- Bike Racing: Moto Traffic Rider Bike Racing Games
- Rangers Of Oblivion: Online Action MMO RPG Game
- Z Camera – Photo Editor, Beauty Selfie, Collage
- GO SMS Pro – Messenger, Free Themes, Emoji
- U-Dictionary: Oxford Dictionary Free Now Translate
- Ulike – Define your selfie in trendy style
- Tantan – Date For Real
- MICO Chat: New Friends Banaen aur Live Chat karen
- Kitty Live – Live Streaming & Video Live Chat
- Malay Social Dating App to Date & Meet Singles
- Alipay
- AlipayHK
- Mobile Taobao
- Youku
- Road of Kings- Endless Glory
- Sina News
- Netease News
- Penguin FM
- Murderous Pursuits
- Tencent Watchlist (Tencent Technology
- Learn Chinese AI-Super Chinese
- HUYA LIVE – Game Live Stream
- Little Q Album
- Fighting Landlords – Free and happy Fighting Landlords
- Hi Meitu
- Mobile Legends: Pocket
- VPN for TikTok
- VPN for TikTok
- Penguin E-sports Live assistant
- Buy Cars-offer everything you need, special offers and low prices
- iPick
- Beauty Camera Plus – Sweet Camera & Face Selfie
- Parallel Space Lite – Dual App
- Chief Almighty: First Thunder BC
- MARVEL Super War NetEase Games
- AFK Arena
- Creative Destruction NetEase Games
- Crusaders of Light NetEase Games
- Mafia City Yotta Games
- Onmyoji NetEase Games
- Ride Out Heroes NetEase Games
- Yimeng Jianghu-Chu Liuxiang has been fully upgraded
- Legend: Rising Empire NetEase Games
- Arena of Valor: 5v5 Arena Games
- Soul Hunters
- Rules of Survival
Why Have These Apps Been Banned in India?
The IT ministry says that these Chinese apps on Android and iOS platforms might have been used to steal and transmit users’ data in an unauthorized manner to servers that are located outside India.
They’ve not only been flagged by various public representatives, but Home Ministry’s cybercrime center, too, recommended blocking these apps. As a result, these apps are not safe with regards to user’s data privacy and security and need to be uninstalled.
Can I Download or Use PUBG Mobile or Other Banned Apps?
Notably, the freshly banned 118 apps will soon be removed from Google Play Store and Apple App Store in the country. Even if you manage to download them from other sources or have them already on your phone, they’ll stop functioning as telcos will cut the internet access for these applications and games.
Earlier, the government banned 59 Chinese apps in India, including TikTok and CamScanner. Soon after, it banned 47 more Chinese apps in the country while keeping PUBG Mobile under the radar.
To date, PUBG Mobile has received about 175 million downloads, with over 33 million active players in India. The game is published by the Chinese company Tencent Mobile. They recently made changes to the privacy policy, claiming that data from Indian users are stored locally, but that didn’t prevent the ban.
Also, read- Chinese vs Non-Chinese: Smartphones that are ‘Made in India’