Union Minister Rajeev Chandrashekhar rejects media report claiming " India planning security testing for smartphones and crackdown on pre-installed apps"

Mar 15, 2023

New Delhi [India], March 15 : Union Minister (MoS) for Electronics and Technology Rajeev Chandrasekhar on Wednesday rejected a media report which claimed that India is planning a new security testing mechanism for smartphones and there will be a crackdown on pre-installed apps.
Union Minister Chandrasekhar took to Twitter to reject the claims being made in a media report.
"This story is plain wrong - there is no 'security testing' or 'crackdown' as the story suggests. The story is based on a lack of understanding perhaps n unfettered creative imagination that is based on an ongoing consultation process between the Ministry n Industry on mobile security guidelines of BIS Standard IS17737 (Part-3) 2021. @GoI_MeitY is 100% committed to Ease of Doing Business n is totally focussed on growing Electronics Mfg to touch USD 300Bln by 2026," he tweeted.
According to the media report if the government goes ahead with this plan it could dent the market of many smartphone players including Samsung, Xiaomi, Vivo and Apple in the Indian smartphone market.
On this matter Ex-CEO Prasar Bharti Shashi Shekhar Vempati said that there should be a dedicated agency to counter the misinformation being spread.
On Twitter, Vempati tweeted, "Maybe it is time to have a dedicated Agency to combat misinformation and disinformation given the frequency at which these kinds of news reports are being disseminated by global media outlets".