TikTok Eying A Comeback To India? ByteDance Assures Govt Of Full Compliance With New IT Rules: Report

ByteDance approached the IT ministry, and PMO officials, initiating negotiations ensuring authorities that the company would fully comply with the new IT Rules.

(Representative Image/Getty)

New Delhi: TikTok could be making a comeback in India shortly. Following the relaunch of PUBG as Battlegrounds Mobile India, TikTok, a Chinese short video creating app, is apparently hoping to reclaim its tens of thousands of Indian consumers.

TikTok's parent firm ByteDance approached the IT ministry, and PMO officials, initiating negotiations ensuring authorities that the company would fully comply with the new IT Rules for social media platforms, The Print reported quoting sources.

Due to user privacy and national security concerns, the Indian government banned TikTok in July of last year, for which the app suffered a loss of an estimated 20 crore users in India.

But in light of making a comeback in India and following the Centre’s new rules, TikTok has already hired nodal and grievance officers in India, far ahead of the IT ministry directive, and is eager to collaborate with the Modi government to examine security.

Apart from TikTok, the government had banned 58 more Chinese apps due to escalating political unrest between India and China over the clash in the Galwan Valley frontier. Over 250 apps in total were prohibited by the authorities on multiple occasions.

But many Chinese apps are now trying to revive themselves back into the Indian market.

Many Chinese apps, however, are making a comeback.

For example, PUBG has made a comeback as Battlegrounds Mobile India and has already become subject to scrutiny for allegedly disclosing user information to Chinese servers. If the government decides to investigate the situation, the app might end up getting banned again.

However, the comeback of TickTok can be tougher than that of PUBG due to other serious factors. Unlike PUBG which has been developed by a Korean firm called Krafton, TickTock is owned by a Chinese company.

In order to relaunch itself, PUBG had to get rid of its Chinese tech giant stake. TikTok’s Operations head of India, Nikhil Gandhi, quit the company last month. This could prove to be another major hindrance for TikTock to enter the Indian market.