In June this year, the Government of India's Ministry of Electronics and IT (MeitY) issued a notice banning 59 Chinese apps. Since then, the government body has issued several such notices banning more Chinese apps that were found to be "prejudicial to [the] sovereignty and integrity of India, defence of India, security of state and public order.” In its latest notice, MeitY banned 43 more apps, including AliExpress and Lalamove, bringing the tally up to 267 banned apps. In case you missed any of our previous coverage, here's a list of all the Chinese/China-owned apps currently banned in India:

List of Chinese apps banned in India

Apps banned in Wave 1

As mentioned earlier, the first ban was announced in June this year, and it cracked down on 59 apps, including popular names like TikTok, Mi Community, WeChat, Weibo, and CamScanner.

Apps banned in Wave 2

The second ban followed in July, and it included 47 more apps with Chinese connections, like TikTok Lite, Helo Lite, ShareIt Lite, and more. The second wave essentially cracked down on functional clones of the apps that were banned in the first wave. Sadly, MeitY hasn't shared a complete list of all the apps that were banned in this phase.

Apps banned in Wave 3

MeitY then shared another notice in September this year, banning 118 Chinese apps in the country. These included popular apps like PUBG Mobile, PUBG Mobile Lite, Baidu, ShareSave by Xiaomi, GO SMS Pro, and many more.

Apps banned in Wave 4

The fourth ban was announced on November 24, 2020, and it included 43 more apps. While a majority of the apps in the recent list aren't very popular in the Indian market, there are some notable names like AliExpress and Lalamove.

Apps banned in Wave 5

The fifth and most recent ban was announced on February 14, 2022, and it includes 54 apps. Quite a few apps banned in this wave are clones of previously banned apps. The most noteworthy addition to the growing list is Garena's popular battle royale game Free Fire.

Note: All the apps mentioned above have been removed from popular app distribution platforms, like the Google Play Store and Apple App Store, in the country and they're no longer available for download. However, some of the apps may still be functional if you have them installed on your device.


In all of the notices shared by MeitY over the last few months, the government body cited Section 69A of the Information Technology Act, 2000 to ban the Chinese apps. Section 69A of the IT Act reads as follows:

69A Power to issue directions for blocking for public access of any information through any computer resource. –

    1. Where the Central Government or any of its officers specially authorised by it in this behalf is satisfied that it is necessary or expedient so to do, in the interest of sovereignty and integrity of India, defence of India, security of the State, friendly relations with foreign States or public order or for preventing incitement to the commission of any cognizable offence relating to above, it may subject to the provisions of sub-section (2), for reasons to be recorded in writing, by order, direct any agency of the Government or intermediary to block for access by the public or cause to be blocked for access by the public any information generated, transmitted, received, stored or hosted in any computer resource.
    2. The procedure and safeguards subject to which such blocking for access by the public may be carried out, shall be such as may be prescribed.
    3. The intermediary who fails to comply with the direction issued under sub-section (1) shall be punished with an imprisonment for a term which may extend to seven years and also be liable to fine.

We'll update this list if more apps are banned, or if apps within are announced to be unbanned.