The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) has concluded hearing whether ban on online game PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds (PUBG) will be extended or removed.

The authority, earlier issued a hearing notice to all respondents. It had allowed them to join the meeting via video link because of the ongoing coronavirus situation.

Meanwhile, #PTALiftBanOnPUBG is trending on Twitter as social media users demand to lift PUBG ban from Pakistan.

A temporary ban was imposed on the battle royale game on July 1. The authority said it received ‘numerous complaints against PUBG wherein it is stated that the game is addictive, wastage of time and poses a serious negative impact on the physical and psychological health of children.’

Petitions were filed against the ban in the Sindh High Court (SHC) and the Islamabad High Court (IHC).

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On July 6, the IHC sent the petition against the suspension of online game PUBG to the PTA.

PUBG, which has been developed by a South Korean company, is a 2017 survival game in which players drop onto an island to battle it out against others.

The multiplayer game allows players from all over the world to compete against each other or in teams.

Players attack and kill each other in the game and the more you win, the higher you rank. It has garnered 34.2 million downloads worldwide so far.

However, on June 20, a 20-year-old took his own life in Saddar Bazaar in North Cantonment. The police said that his parents had stopped him from playing the game.

Three days later, another suicide reported in Hanjarwal. Operations DIG Ashfaq Ahmed Khan said that they found the young man’s cell phone in the room and the PUBG app was running on it.