The Indian government banned nearly 267 Chinese apps from the Android and Apple stores in 2020 and 2022. Now, at least 36 apps have reappeared in the app stores despite initial data collection and storage concerns. There have been changes, though, primarily minor modifications in app names, while some have changed developers, giving them an entry into the Indian user base.
These apps were previously banned under Section 69A of the Information Technology (IT) Act, which allows the government to block any apps or websites that engage in activities harmful to India’s sovereignty, security, and public order. Geopolitical tensions between India and China were also high at the time, and the Indian government’s main reason for the ban was that the apps harvested user data of their millions of Indian users and sent them back to Chinese servers, raising concerns about data misuse and espionage.
The resurfaced apps include Xender, Taobao, Tantan, MangoTV, and Youku among others. Their resurgence was seemingly kicked off by the return of Shein, a Chinese fashion app banned in the initial wave of app bans in 2020. The app returned to Indian app stores starting February 3, 2025, via a licensing agreement between Shein and Reliance Retail. As per a December 2024 Lok Sabha response, Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal assured that the Indian branch of Shein will store user data on servers located on Indian soil and that the parent company will have no access to Indian user information, in addition to only listing locally sourced products on the platform.
Other apps have taken similar measures to claw their way back to Indian screens. Some apps have changed development hands to get a fresh start as well. Overall, out of the 36 apps that are coming back, 13 are developed by Chinese companies, eight by Indian developers, three by Singaporean firms, two by Vietnamese companies, and one each by companies based in Bangladesh, Japan, South Korea, and Seychelles.
Why are the banned apps making a comeback?
The re-emergence of the banned apps could be linked to warmer diplomatic ties between New Delhi and Beijing. As geopolitical tensions ease, India might start taking China’s word on data security or show some trust in Chinese organisations that claim to protect user data.
The resurgent apps also aren’t the most popular of the ones banned. Massively popular mobile games like PUBG (later named BGMI) and Garena Free Fire were also banned during the government’s app ban frenzy but found their way back to Indian phones after complying with the government’s directives or switching developers.
TikTok, arguably the most popular Chinese apps still banned in the country, doesn’t seem to be seeing light at the end of the tunnel. ByteDance, TikTok’s creator, has reportedly talked to the Indian government several times since its 2020 ban. However, these talks don’t seem to be fruitful, considering the company has had no word about TikTok returning to India.
The point to note here is that these apps are coming back with little to no changes, and there’s no evidence to suggest they’ve reached a compliance agreement with the Indian government. Their reappearance suggests that the national security concerns presented when first banning the apps were only a guise to prevent Chinese algorithms from tapping into an Indian audience.
With the AI race heating up and DeepSeek being banned in Australia, South Korea, Italy, and Taiwan, there’s another Chinese service we might see being blanked-banned in the country amid data privacy concerns. DeepSeek’s app was found sending data back to ByteDance servers, which certainly doesn’t help TikTok’s case. India’s finance ministry has already banned apps like DeepSeek and ChatGPT amid security concerns.
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