Mobile phone makers delay rollout of feature till Feb-end

If implemented, users can make emergency calls by pressing a single button on their device

PANIC BUTTON

FACED WITH a sharp fall in mobile phone sale after the Centre announced the withdrawal of the old Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 currency notes, manufacturers have informed the government that the rollout of a panic button on handsets, which was mandated from January 1, would be delayed till the end of February.

“There are some supply chain management issues, some old stock is there and it will get implemented after February end. Everything is ready,” an industry source said. The source also said that while there was informal discussion regarding this with the government, no official communique has been issued by the Department of Telecommunications (DOT).

On April 22, the DOT issued a notification mandating a panic button for all mobile phones sold in India from January 1, 2017. The panic button mandate would enable users to make emergency calls by pressing just a single button on their devices.

Simultaneously, the government had also approved single emergency number ‘112’ which was also proposed to be operational throughout India from January 1, 2017 to help people reach services of police, ambulance and fire department easily in emergency. However, the number is yet to become active.

In October, the Indian Cellular Association (ICA) had requested the government to defer the deadline for implementing the panic buttons in mobile phones to April 1. This request was made on the basis that the proposed ‘112’ emergency number was not operational.

While this feature was to be brought on feature phones by the way of pressing numeric key – 5 or numeric key – 9 to invoke emergency call, smartphones were to be provided this facility by a software update wherein a user could press the power button in quick succession to make an emergency call.

Us-based electronics manufacturer Apple is testing the feature for its iphone via a software update and is letting developers using its latest operating system make an emergency call by pressing the power button in quick succession. It even lets the user choose the number of times he or she wants the numbers to be pressed.

The aforementioned industry source also informed that the facility will be available on phones once new stocks start coming into the market, after the current stock that has piled up due to relatively poor sales are cleared.

“The industry is suffering because of demonetisation. December was better than November, but it is still very bad. Bottom of the pyramid – feature phones and entry-level smartphones have been affected the most,” the source said.