NGO asks govt to block Battlegrounds Mobile India

New Delhi: Demanding blocking of mobile game Battlegrounds Mobile India, NGO Prahar on Tuesday claimed that Chinese internet company Tencent and South Korean firm Krafton have misled the government and reintroduced the banned gaming app PUBG in India by changing its name.

Krafton is the publisher of Battlegrounds Mobile India (BGMI). Earlier, it ran PUBG in partnership with Tencent in India. PUBG was among the Chinese apps which were blocked by the government in 2020 on security grounds.

"BGMI as it is called today, is the new avatar of the erstwhile banned PUBG game. Only the name of the game has been changed from PUBG to BGMI to mislead the policy makers, while the company running the new BGMI operation is still controlled by Chinese Tencent through an elaborate cover operation.

"We urge the Government to block BGMI-PUBG under Section 69A of the IT Act in the interest of Security and Defence of India," Prahar president Abhay Mishta said in a statement.

An email query sent to Krafton did not elicit any reply.

Prahar said it has written to the Ministry of Electronics and IT saying that Krafton Inc in a board of directors council meeting on November 26, 2021 named Hyunil Sohn to represent the company in relation to BGMI.

At the same time on November 26, 2021, PUBG India Pvt Limited, in a board resolution, authorised the very same Hyunil Sohn to represent PUBG India.

"If PUBG and BGMI are different, why is Krafton, the so-called publisher of BGMI, authorized Hyunil Sohn, of PUBG India Pvt Ltd to represent the company? Is Hyunil Sohn a representative of PUBG or BGMI or both? The answer is in reality,he represents the Chinese company Tencent in India," Mishra said.

According to Prahar, as per documents available with the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA), there is no company called Krafton India.

The only Krafton in India, as per MCA documents, is a paper manufacturing company with no relation to Krafton of South Korea, Prahar added.