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Internet Service Providers in India Block Steam Community Features, BSNL Blocks Access to Steam

IGN India reported on Tuesday that several Internet Service Providers (ISPs) across Indian states have blocked features and pages on Valve's Steam service. Central public sector undertaking Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) has blocked the entirety of Steam's services across several states.

West Bengal ISP Alliance Broadband blocked access to Steam on June 17 and stated to AFK Gaming that the block was due to a government request to block multiple websites including Steam. The ISP is currently allowing access to all of Steam's services except for the community market pages, as of press time. It has issued a notice to customers stating that it is still "verifying the directive details."

IGN India reported on Friday that ISP Tata Fiber has blocked access to the service in Maharashtra and BSNL has blocked it in Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh. Channel 3 Cable Internet has also blocked the service in Maharashtra. GTPL has blocked the service in Gujarat.

Union Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar stated on June 12 that the Indian government is working on creating a framework for guidelines on online gaming. It is looking to ban three types of games: ones that involve "betting," games that "can be harmful to users," and games that have "an addiction factor."

Source: IGN India (Moulik Mathur)