List of apps banned in India

Indian Government has banned many Chinese apps in India in last year, 2020, but this was not the first time when any application was banned by the Indian government. The Ministry of Electronics and Information technology, lead by the central government, has also banned many applications in the past.

In this article, we will see the names of all the applications or apps that the Indian government has banned. But before that, we will first see that why an app is banned in India and which ministry handles all this process and working.

Why is an app banned?

Recently, when the ministry of Electronics and Information technology released a list of applications it has banned in the country, it also released a statement with the list. The statement released by the Ministry of Electronics and Information technology is something like 'The action was taken action these apps as these apps were prejudicial to integrity and sovereignty of India, security and state of public order and defence of India.'

So, with this statement, we can draw the conclusion that an app can be banned because any of the following reasons:

• The app is not complying with the IT & electronics rules and regulations of India.
• The app doesn't maintain the sovereignty and integrity of India.
• The cybercrime branch has released multiple complaints against the application.
• The application is breaching the data and personal information of the people.
• The app is creating a threat to the defence and law & order of India.
• The application is intended to provide some personal data of users or confidential data of country to other countries.
• The application is creating issues among the users or hurting the sentiments of many people.
• The app is religiously biased and making some inappropriate religious content or comment or both.
• If the government finds that the app poses a threat to anyone's life or causing a conflict among a group of people.
• If an app is intentionally trying to possess a threat or trying to break the peaceful environment of India, etc.

So, suppose our government finds one or more of these reasons against any application. In that case, it will ban the application entirely or partially in the country, and the people of the country will no longer have access to such applications.

Who bans an app in India?

In India, the regulation regarding application was majorly looked at by the ministry of information technology and electronics. Still, suppose the ministry of home affairs or defence ministry, or cybercrime group find complaints against any application or find the application inappropriate. In that case, they can also possess the power to ban the application.

So, basically, the following group of people possesses the power to ban the application in our country:

• Ministry of Electronics and Information technology,
• Ministry of Defence
• Ministry of Home affairs
• Ministry of law & order
• Ministry of communications
• And central & state governments as well.

So, these are the ministries and authorities of government that can prohibit the use of any application and ban its access in India. But they just can't ban any app. They have to first look out for the threat an application possesses and how much it can affect the users and country information.

List of all the apps banned in India

The Ministry of Electronics and Information technology banned 118 Chinese apps in September 2020 that included some apps such as PUBG (Player's Unknown Battle Ground), PUBG Lite, Clash of Kings, CamScanner, and many other popular apps. With these 118 banned Chinese apps, the total number of apps banned in India till now is 220.

Here, we are providing you the list of all the 220 apps that the Indian government bans so far to use in India:

Note: If the Indian government has banned any application in India and the owners of the application are not happy with the decision of the Indian government, then they can raise their objections in front of the Indian government by talking to the ministry of Electronics and Information technology. The ban can be lifted from an application if it rectifies all the possibilities that lead it to ban and comply with the country's IT rules.

It has been very rare that when any banned application is restored after it is prohibited in the first place, but it is not impossible at all. Popular applications such as PUBG mobile have been restored in India recently with a New Name, i.e., BGMI (Battle Ground Mobile India). It was ready to comply with all the norms and IT rules& regulations set by the Ministry of Electronics and Information technology, and that's why the Indian government gave its permission to relaunch the game in India.