Battlegrounds Mobile India launch: More BAD news for PUBG Mobile fans as chorus for ban among politicians grows

In some bad news for PUBG MObile India fans, after Arunachal Pradesh MLA Ninong Ering had written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, asking him to ban Battlegrounds Mobile India even before its release, now a Member of Parliament from Telangana expressed concerns over Battlegrounds Mobile India. 

The Telangana MP has demanded an investigation into the relationship between Krafton, the company that owns PUBG IP, and Tencent, the vendor of PUBG Mobile. Tencent is the company that publishes PUBG Mobile globally. And even though last year’s ban led to a falling out between Krafton and Tencent just for India, the two companies are still very much in regular business elsewhere. 

It is pertinent to mention that the PUBG Mobile India was banned by the Indian government in September 2020 due to data privacy concerns under Section 69A of the Information Technology Act.  Following the ban, Krafton is all set to launch the Indian avatar of PUBG Mobile India.

Indian fans of the battle royale game are eagerly awaiting the launch of the Indian avatar of PUBG - Battlegrounds Mobile India, which is expected to be launched next month. The pre-registrations had begun for Android users on May 18.

MP from Nizamabad in Telangana Arvind Dharampuri has written to Ravi Shankar Prasad, the Minister of Information Technology, urging him to launch scrutiny into the ties between Krafton and Tencent. 

According to Zee News, in a letter sent to the IT Ministry, Dharampuri said that he had received a plea against the game from a local social activist, Sai Kumar. The letter is mainly about the Terms of Service and privacy policy of Battlegrounds Mobile India.

Kumar has mentioned that even though the data of Battlegrounds Mobile India users will be stored in India and Singapore, there is a possibility of data transfer between international servers. Moreover, the Terms of Service of Battlegrounds Mobile India are governed by the laws of South Korea, the country Krafton belongs to. According to the demand, the IT Minister should scrutinise Krafton’s investments and its agreements with China’s behemoth Tencent.

Congress MP  Abhishek Singhvi had also said that Battlegrounds Mobile India will allow Tencent to return to India. Hence, the government should ban it.

It is to be noted that the politicians are not talking about other aspects of the game, such as those that the violence depicted in it and children becoming addicted to it.

Now, we have to wait and watch what the government does with respect to PUBG Mobile India's new version of Battlegrounds Mobile India that is expected to be launched soon.