Following the orders from the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) to crack down on cyber fraud, Google and Apple play store has gone ahead with the decision to remove the 2 eSIM apps, Airalo and Holafly from their App stores.
Apple & Google Removed Two eSIM Apps
If a foreign app wants to sell SIM cards in India then the company has to acquire a no objection certificate (NoC) from DoT.
Here, the above-mentioned company, the Singapore-based Airalo and Spain-based Holafly offer eSIMs (digital SIM) in India.
Further, these companies allow customers to get a connection in minutes and help them instantly connect to a mobile network at the destination.
These eSIM providers offer digital SIM cards for voice calling and internet data packs that too without any need of a physical SIM card.
Besides removing these two apps from the Google Play Store and the Apple App Store, the Department of Communications has ordered the internet service providers, and telecom companies to block the websites of these apps in India, as per the media report.
Why Would This Happen?
According to the government, fraudsters with international numbers are duping Indians through cybercrime while exploiting a loophole with unauthorized eSIMs.
Please note here that these two apps have been banned, but there are several other eSIM apps like Nomad eSIM and aloSIM are still available for users.
In the meantime, the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) has reported a sharp increase in cybercrime cases in Delhi in 2022.
These numbers are expected to increase in the coming times considering the cybercriminals increasingly leveraging advanced AI technology.
So far, Google has not released any comment in this regard.
