India has ordered the blocking of 25 streaming providers — many with thousands and thousands of viewers and even paying subscribers — for allegedly selling “obscene” content material, in one of many South Asian nation’s greatest digital crackdowns but. The order impacts lesser-known, however wildly in style providers like Ullu and ALTT that cater to the nation’s mass-market urge for food for grownup and edgy leisure.
This week, the Ministry of Info and Broadcasting issued directives to dam entry to web sites and apps linked to 25 streaming providers, citing provisions of the Info Expertise Act of 2000 and the IT Guidelines of 2021, TechCrunch realized.
The order got here months after the Nationwide Fee for Safety of Little one Rights and a Parliamentary Standing Committee on Info Expertise raised considerations about mature content material being streamed on these platforms with out enough safeguards.
The Indian authorities contacted web service suppliers and app shops, together with Google Play and the Apple App Retailer, earlier this week to limit these streaming providers, a supply aware about the matter informed TechCrunch.
A few of these providers, particularly the most important ones with thousands and thousands of subscribers, remained reside on the time of submitting this text.
Google and Apple didn’t reply to requests for remark. The data and broadcasting minister additionally didn’t reply to an electronic mail despatched Friday.
Of the 25 streaming providers, 10 supplied in-app purchases by their apps on Google Play and the App Retailer, producing a cumulative $5.7 million since launch with practically 105 million downloads, per the Appfigures information completely shared with TechCrunch. The huge hole between in-app purchases and downloads is primarily as a result of their low subscription prices — considerably decrease than Netflix and different world platforms in India.
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Lifetime totals of banned streaming providers from Google Play and Apple App RetailerPicture Credit:Appfigures
Notably, a few of these streaming providers had been both by no means listed on conventional app shops or had been eliminated earlier, and as an alternative supplied their apps as direct APK downloads. As of publication, a few of these APK recordsdata had been nonetheless accessible by their web sites or third-party platforms.
Earlier this month, Indian manufacturing firm Balaji Telefilms, the guardian of ALTT, disclosed that its streaming app generated ₹202.6 million ($2.3 million) in income by including 1.06 million subscribers in 2025. ALTT’s content material was watched for greater than 5.8 million hours, garnering 160 million annual views, the corporate mentioned.
ALTT’s app was not obtainable for obtain by Google Play and the App Retailer in India, and its web site was inaccessible on most Indian ISPs on the time of submitting this text.
Balaji Telefilms didn’t reply to a request for touch upon the ban.
Ullu, one other comparatively outstanding streaming service named by the Indian authorities, remained obtainable by way of its app on the Indian Play Retailer, and its web site was accessible as effectively. The service’s iOS app, nonetheless, was not obtainable for obtain from the Indian App Retailer.
Ullu Digital, the guardian firm of Ullu, reported a web revenue of ₹212.3 million ($2.5 million) for the monetary yr 2024, per its regulatory submitting reviewed by TechCrunch. The corporate posted a income of ₹931.4 million ($11 million) and declared a web value of ₹2.08 billion ($24 million).
Ullu Digital didn’t reply to requests for remark.
Alongside thousands and thousands of {dollars} in subscription income, these streaming providers had been additionally attracting thousands and thousands of world visits to their web sites.
Picture Credit:Similarweb
Ullu noticed practically 10% year-over-year development in worldwide site visitors, reaching 1.9 million visits in June, whereas ALTT recorded over 130% development to 776,400, per Similarweb.
In India, Ullu recorded 18.9% year-over-year development, reaching 1.8 million visits, whereas ALTT noticed a 157.8% enhance to 696,200 visits, Similarweb information reveals.
Picture Credit:Similarweb
Importantly, this isn’t the primary time the streaming enterprise has seen a crackdown in India. World platforms, together with Amazon Prime Video and Netflix, usually face cases of censorship by the Indian authorities.
Nonetheless, even stricter actions are seen in instances of obscenity regardless of a scarcity of readability on rules, as watching specific content material that includes absolutely consensual interactions between grownup actors in a personal area just isn’t a criminal offense.
In 2023, the then Indian info broadcasting minister warned streaming platforms to not serve abusive and obscene content material. New Delhi has additionally blocked hundreds of internet sites streaming pornographic content material. On a plea to manage sexually specific content material in April this yr, India’s Supreme Court docket additionally issued notices to streaming platforms and the Indian authorities.
That mentioned, curbing obscene content material stays a problem even for the Indian authorities. Smaller streaming providers — like these focused on this crackdown — usually reappear below new names, apps, and domains. It’s equally troublesome for intermediaries like Google, Apple, and web suppliers to totally block entry, as these platforms usually unfold by different channels and use social media platforms like Instagram and YouTube to draw viewers.
