India prohibits streaming applications you have never heard of – but millions follow | Techcrunch

India has ordered 25 streaming services blocking – many with millions of spectators and even paying rewards – for the alleged promotion of “obscene” content, in one of the largest digital cracks in the South Asian nation. The order is influenced by less known but wildly popular services such as Ultle and Altt, which will satisfy mass market apterites for adults and nervous entertainment.

This week, the Minister of Information and Broadcasting of the Directive published to block access to websites and applications connected to 25 streaming services, quoting the provisions of the Act on Information Technology of 2000 and IT Rules of 2021, TechCrunch learned.

The order came a month after the National Commission for the Protection of the Rights of the Child and the Parliamentary Permanent Information Technology Committee raised concerns about developed content that is streaming on these platforms without sufficient guarantees.

The Indian Government Contact providers of Internet services and app stores included Google Play and the Apple App Store, at the beginning of this week to limit these streaming services, TechCrunch said source of authorization.

Some of these services, especially the main ones with millions of subscribers, remained live at the time of filing this article.

Google and Apple did not answer the comment. The Minister of Information and Broadcast also did not respond to the e -mail, which he feels on Friday.

Of the 25 10 streaming services, he offered purchases in apps through his apps on Google Play and the App Store, which generates a kumulative $ 5.7 million from launching with nearly 105 million downloads, to Data Appigures exclusively shared with TechCrunch. The wide gap between purchases and downloads in the application is primary due to their live prescription costs that are not lower than Flix and other global platforms in India.

Note that some of these streaming services have never been listed in traditional app stores or have been removed earlier, offering their applications as direct downloading APK. Since the publication, some of these APK files were still accessible through their website or third -party platforms.

At the beginning of this month, the Indian production company Balaji Telefilms, ALTT, revealed that its streaming application generated revenues of 202.6 million GBP ($ 2.3 million) by adding $ 1.06 million in 2025 160 million annual opinions, the company said.

Altt was not for download via Google Play and App Store in India, and its website was inaccessible to most Indian Internet services at the time of submission of this article.

Balaji Telefilms did not respond to the request for a ban.

Ultle, another relatively prominent streaming service named by the Indian government, remained available through its application in the Indian Games store and its website was also accessible. However, iOS services were not available for download from the Indian App Store.

Ultlu Digital’s parent company reported a net profit of $ 212.3 million ($ 2.5 million) for the regulatory review of TechCrunch for the financial year of 2024. The company has been published in the amount of $ 931.4 million ($ 11 million) and declared a net value of $ 2.08 billion ($ 24 million).

The Ultle did not respond to the comment.

Along with millions of dollars on your income subscription, these streaming services also attracted millions of global visits to their website.

Ultle recorded almost 10% year -on -year growth in worldwide traffic and reached 1.9 million visits in June, while Altt recorded more than 130% growth to 776,400, perimilarweb.

In India, Ullu recorded a year -on -year growth of 18.9% and reached 1.8 million visits, while the Altt recorded a 157.8% increase to 696,200 visits, they show similar data.

Importantly, this is not the first time that a streaming store in India was an intervention. Global platforms included Amazon Prime Video and Netflix, often facing examples of Indian government censorship.

Even strict steps, however, are observed in cases of obscenity despite insufficient clarity of regulations, since monitoring explicit content with fully consensual interactions between adult actors in private space is not a crime.

In 2023, the then Indian Minister of Broadcasting warned platforms for streaming to serve non -abusing and obscene content. The new Delhi also blocked thousands of websites that stream pornographic content. In April this year we have a lawsuit for the regulation of sexually explicit content, the Indian Supreme Court also issued a notice of streaming platforms and the Indian government.

This means that the limitation of obscene content remains a challenge for the Indian government. Smaller streaming services – as well as services aimed at this procedure – often appear under new names, applications and domains. For intermediaries such as Google, Apple and Internet Providers, it is just as difficult to fully block access, as these platforms are often spread through alternative channels and social media platforms such as Instagram and YouTube to attract viewers.