Indian Schoolboy Spent Over $21,400 Of Parents’ Savings On PUBG Mobile Cosmetic Items

Hanima Anand|Jul 04, 2020

The teenager lied to his parents that he was studying online. In fact, he spent all the time and money from parents’ accounts on buying PUBG Mobile cosmetics items.

Yesterday, many Indian parents got shocked when hearing the news of a Punjab teenager who spent up to Rs 16 lakh (converted to $21,425) on buying in-game cosmetic items in PUBG Mobile. The boy is 17 years old, living in the town of Kharar.

There is a surge in PUBG Mobile teenage players in India during the lockdown.

According to reports, this schoolboy told his parents he was using the smartphone for online classes during the lockdown. However, he didn’t study at all but playing PUBG Mobile games instead. He made several micro-transactions in this game which allow real money from players to be converted to Unknown Currency. The amount of equivalent UC was then used to purchase in-game items.

More surprisingly, the boy didn’t buy any item that gives him an advantage in the virtual battle. All the cosmetic items he bought were just to flaunt styles of his game characters.

Games like PUBG Mobile often earn money from selling in-game items.

After a number of transactions, the total amount of money this teenager threw in the game added up to more than $21,400. The father was upset, sharing that he had saved this money for his medical needs as well as the son’s future studies. He was a government employee who was staying at the place of his posting during the nationwide lockdown.

The boy stayed with his mom, using her smartphone to play games and do transactions. He deleted all the messages that informed the amount debited from his parents’ account.

The teenager is now working part-time to understand the value of money.

Now the teenager is made working at a scooter repair shop by his father after the incident. He clearly needs to experience how hard it is to make money, especially during this tough time.

Regarding the money he burnt in PUBG Mobile, the amount is unlikely to be returned under any circumstance because all the transactions were made legally.

The story once again raises alarming facts of game addiction in India, PUBG Mobile in particular. Though the government did try to impose a ban on this game in the past, the efforts went in vain considering the popularity of PUBG in India.

Below Starbiz.com has included a video on how you can restrict PUBG Mobile playing times for kids on Android phones. Hope this temporary measure can help while we are waiting for more drastic actions from the government.

>>> Related post: Why PUBG Not Banned In India Like Other 59 Chinese Apps?

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