NEW DELHI: India on 29 June banned 59 Chinese mobile applications amidst a border stand-off with its neighbouring country. The government cited national security for banning these apps and included popular apps like TikTok, SHAREiT, UC Browser and WeChat.

According to the latest BARC Nielsen report, the weekly usage of Chinese apps by those having such apps installed on their phones decreased by five per cent to 77 per cent in the week ended 20 June , which further dropped to 76 per cent.

The report said that the highest impact was among users in tier-I cities, and those aged between 15-24, adding that both the segments reported an 11 per cent drop in the percentage of users per week.

Those who were visiting the app, did so fewer times in a day, it said, pointing to a 10 per cent decline in the average number of sessions to 5.4 per day for the week ended 27 June from 7.4 in the week ended 20 June.

According to the data, males between the age of 15-24 led the reduction in the number of sessions as well, with an 18 per cent decline, while tier-II cities witnessed a 20 per cent decline.

During the lockdown, the percentage of users per week had touched a peak of 80 per cent for the week ended 13 June and the average number of sessions had touched nearly eight per day, the report further said.