PUBG Mobile India: Permission to launch not given clarifies government

In a response to an RTI query about the PUBG Mobile relaunch, Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) has clarified that it has not given any permission yet.

PUBG Mobile India coming soon, but clearly not soon enough.  (PUBG Mobile India)

This whole saga of the PUBG Mobile India launch, which is basically PUBG Mobile relaunching in India, has been stuck in limbo for a while now. Reports have it that while PUBG Mobile officials have been trying to secure a meeting with the Indian government for a month at least, they have not managed to do so. 

Till they do not get explicit permission from the government, the game cannot launch in India. 

Now, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) has officially clarified that the Centre has not granted permission to relaunch PUBG Mobile in India.

Responding to a RTI Query, MeitY said that it "has not given any permission for launch of PUBG”. The RTI query was filed on November 30, as reported by InsideSport.

GEM Esports shared the reply of RTI on their Instagram handle:

 

"Dear Sir/ Mam, In the month of September, 2020, Government of India with the consultation of your Department (MEITY) banned various Chinese apps. One of which was Pubg Mobile Game. Now, there are many news which says that the game is being relaunched and the same is made specifically for the Indian Public and will not be harmful to the nation and its citizens. I would like to know if your department has given any such permission to the game so that it can be re-launched," the RTI query filed by an Instagram user who goes by the handle @divvyanshu reads. 

This, to be very honest, is not surprising because inside sources at PUBG Mobile have shared that its directors are unaware about when the launch might happen and there is also a possibility that it might now happen for at least a couple of months. 

PUBG Mobile India has been struggling to get the right permits in place so as it can launch the new iteration of the game in the country but it looks like the government is in no mood to budge, yet.