App ban: China opposes India's decision, asks New Delhi to immediately correct stance

"Since last year, the Indian side has repeatedly used national security as an excuse to prohibit some Mobile APPs with Chinese background. These moves in violation of WTO non-discriminatory principles and fair competition principles of market economy severely damage the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese companies. The Chinese side firmly opposes them," Spokesperson of Chinese Embassy in India, Counselor Ji Rong, said in a statement.

"The Chinese government always asks Chinese companies to observe international rules and local laws and regulations when doing business overseas. The Indian government has the responsibility to follow WTO rules and market principles and protect the legitimate rights and interests of international investors including Chinese companies. These moves of the Indian government have also hindered the improvement of the Indian business environment and the innovative development of related Indian industries," he said.

The Chinese official asked the Indian side to immediately correct its 'discriminatory measures and avoid causing further damage to bilateral cooperation'.

TikTok, WeChat and 59 other Chinese apps, banned by the government in June 2020, will be permanently inaccessible in India, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) has decided, said media reports.

According to media reports, the government has sought information from all the companies that were banned about the data collected and how they were used.

The permanent ban came after the government was not satisfied by the responses submitted by the companies.

“The government is not satisfied with the response/explanation given by these companies. Hence, the ban for these 59 apps is permanent now," a source was quoted as saying by Mint.

With this, the other apps banned last year, nealy 200, also lost the chance to make a return to the Indian market. This includes the hugely popular smartphone game PUBG Mobile, which tried to make a comeback in November by launching a new, India-only version, PUBG Mobile India with only Indian staff.

However, the response by MeitY to an RTI filed by GemWire had stated that  there had been no formal discussion between PUBG/ Krafton and the government body, reported Gadget 360. This response along with other responses to the RTIs filed previously had revealed that the apps return to India is uncertain, it added.

With India seeing a permanent ban, The future of hundreds of people employed by ByteDance (Tiktok's parent company) in India also becomes uncertain as the company's India team had been retained after the ban on TikTok and employed in global operations, stated the report.

“We are evaluating the notice and will respond to it as appropriate. TikTok was among the first companies to comply with the government of India directive issued on June 29, 2020. We continually strive to comply with local laws and regulations and do our best to address any concerns the government may have. Ensuring the privacy and security of all our users remains to be our topmost priority,” a TikTok spokesperson told Mint.