BGMI and PUBG Mobile Different Games: IT Ministry to Telangana High Court Over PIL
The Indian IT Ministry differentiates between PUBG Mobile and BGMI.
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A few days ago in February, advocate Anil Stevenson Jangam filed a PIL (Public Interest Litigation) in the Telangana High Court (HC), seeking a permanent ban against popular mobile battle royale Battlegrounds Mobile India (BGMI).
The PIL claimed that BGMI was nothing but a new avatar of the mobile title which had previously been banned by the Indian Government, PUBG Mobile. According to Jangam, PUBG Mobile had a negative impact on the country’s youth and children, affecting their mental well-being and consequently their lives.
The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) has responded to the Telangana High Court by stating that both BGMI and PUBG Mobile are different games.
IT Ministry response to Telangana High Court over PIL: BGMI and PUBG Mobile are different games
The Indian mobile gaming community’s concern about BGMI facing a ban from the government can be put to rest to some extent as N. Samaya Balan, representative of MeitY, via a detailed affidavit has said that the two applications, ‘PUBG Mobile’ and ‘BGMI’ are not the same. Further, he reiterated that only the government has the authority to restrict computer resources.
Additionally, MeitY has informed the Telangana High Court that it has not received any request to ban, restrict, or prohibit Battlegrounds Mobile India (BGMI).
A few highlights that were pointed out in the PIL filed by Anil Stevenson Jangam are as follows,
BGMI and the banned application PUBG Mobile are the same game with only cosmetic changes. The new application Battlegrounds Mobile India is fraught with all the dangers its banned earlier version posed to our children and adolescents. Therefore, the new version also deserves to be banned.
Chinese Company Tencent Holdings and Krafton has employed a circuitous means of re-entering India, by an elaborate process of Front companies, and have sought to hoodwink the Indian Authorities, which is detrimental to the interests of India and its citizens
Through this PIL, the advocate urged the Telangana HC to issue some directions and guidelines to the state governments for establishing a safety rating agency to help regulate online gaming in a better way, while also preventing adverse impact on the social health of the users.
This is not the first time that MeitY has been requested to impose a ban against BGMI. Earlier, an NGO (Non-Governmental Organization) called PRAHAR had written a letter to both MHA (Ministry of Home Affairs) and MeitY, seeking action against the battle royale.
“In the 'so-called new avatar,' BGMI-PUBG is no different from the erstwhile PUBG [Mobile], with Tencent still controlling it in the background,” said Abhay Mishra - President of NGO, “Such camouflage activities are nothing but Ravana disguised as a Sadhu".
