India’s apex child rights body ‘not in favour’ of PUBG relaunch in India

PUBG, which was earlier distributed in India by China's Tencent Games, has sought permission from the government to relaunch in the country.

New Delhi: India’s apex child rights body NCPCR has said it will not be appropriate to relaunch popular gaming app PUBG in the country until legislations are in place for such online games, according to officials.

PUBG was among 118 Chinese mobile applications banned by the government in September this year. The government had said these apps “are prejudicial to sovereignty and integrity of India, defence of India, security of state and public order”.

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PUBG, which was earlier distributed in India by China’s Tencent Games, has sought permission from the government to relaunch in the country.

In a meeting called to discuss the proposal, National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) chairperson Priyank Kanoongo “strongly recommended” against the relaunch of the mobile app in India until appropriate legislations are in place for such online games, the officials said.

When asked about it, Kanoongo said an internal meeting was held to discuss the matter.

“It was an internal meeting and prima facie, the NCPCR is not in favour of recommending such games in the country,” Kanoongo told PTI.

During the meeting, it was also pointed out that the game led to loss of many lives in the country, a senior official said.

No response had been received from PUBG to queries sent by PTI on the matter till the time of filing this report.

According to reports, India accounted for a significant portion of PUBG MOBILE’s downloads and users.

Days after the government ban, PUBG had announced that Chinese company Tencent Games would no longer be authorised to distribute the PUBG MOBILE franchise in India.