In an ad that did not name any firm but left little to imagination, MobiKwik, a mobile phone based payment system and digital wallet, said, “220 Chinese apps banned. Are you still paying your bills with the 221st?”
The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeiY) on Tuesday banned 43 more Chinese apps, as part of the fourth crackdown on apps with ties to China, that are believed to be a threat to national security.
The new list includes several apps by Chinese tech giant Alibaba, such as AliSuppliers Mobile, Alibaba Workbench, AliExpress and Alipay Cashier. The development means that the latest banned apps will no longer be available to download via Google Play Store and the Apple App Store in India.
Similarly, the said applications will soon stop functioning for those users who already use them on their smartphones.
Earlier in June, the government had blocked its first batch of 59 China-origin apps in the country that included notable names such as TikTok, Shareit, UC Browser, and WeChat. That was followed by another ban on 47 apps in July that comprised applications such as CamScanner, SHAREit, and UC Browser, among others. But the most notable raid on 118 Chinese apps occurred in September, which included highly popular apps such as PUBG Mobile and PUBG Mobile Lite.
With the ban of the Chinese apps in India, several domestic players over the months gained prominence in the smartphone app space.
Source: News18