Chinese apps: MeitY adds 43 new apps to banned list

In the third such list within six months, the government of India has banned 43 mobile apps including Hong Kong headquartered on-demand delivery app Lalamove and Chinese e-commerce company Alibaba Group’s international retail app, AliExpress. Other apps owned by Alibaba Group including AliSuppliers mobile app and the company owned chat and call platform, DingTalk have been banned.

The government had first banned 59 apps of Chinese origin including Bytedance-owned short video platform TikTok in India in June, followed by 118 apps in September which included mobile gaming app PUBG. 

The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) has cited section 69A for banning the apps, as was the case in the previous announcements stating that the apps were engaged in activities “prejudicial to sovereignty and integrity of India, defence of India, security of state and public order” according to a statement issued by the government. 

The statement also said that the apps were banned to block their access to Indian users based on reports from Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre of the Ministry of Home Affairs. MeitY had constituted a panel to address representations from the apps banned by it previously. 

Among the list of apps released by the government are also multiple dating apps as well as mobile games and content apps. 

Among the apps banned earlier, PUBG has tried a comeback in India with the launch of PUBG Mobile India targeted specifically at the country’s users. The South Korea headquartered gaming company has also revoked the right to publish the mobile game in India from China headquartered internet conglomerate, Tencent.