Battlegrounds Mobile India is Coming Back for 90 Days But Conditions Apply as Authorities to Keep Close Watch

The ban on the popular but controversial game app Battlegrounds Mobile India (BGMI) is set to be lifted for three months after temporary clearance but it will remain under the scanner, sources have confirmed to News18.

The game was banned after Indian authorities noticed that its server was interacting with Chinese servers. The app had also triggered crimes, including murders, across the country.

According to a top-level official, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) will soon issue an order to unblock the app from e-stores.

Sources also said the competent authority in Ministry of Home Affairs has accorded conditional approval to unblock BGMI for analysis and re-evaluation. During this period, authorities will monitor the app to check if it violates India’s rules. In case of any adverse activities, the app will see a ban again, the senior official told News18.

It is expected that the game will return with multiple changes to follow the law of the land as assured by the makers.

According to sources, players will not be able to engage with the game 24×7 as there will be a time limit and restrictions on hours of playing.

The company has also told government officials that there will be no blood in the game as they will change its colour. In the last edition, there was a choice to change the colour of blood from red to blue and green during firing but now, the change will be the default setting.

Intel Report That Triggered Ban

In August, News18 had revealed that it was a report by a central intelligence agency and communication from the Ministry of Home Affairs to MeitY that triggered a ban on the popular battle royale game. The report talked about violations that can create cyber threats by harvesting user data for profiling to carry out targeted cyber-attacks on Indian users.

It also talked about the App’s various issues but most pertinent among them was the fact that it was communicating with servers directly or indirectly located in China. Sources also confirmed that other apps which have “re-branded” are also communicating with servers in China and are under scrutiny.