According to sources women’s safety again comes to the fore as there are reports of a rethink on the part of the Central Government over the exemption given to feature phones from providing the GPS feature. Meanwhile the government had promulgated an order making it mandatory for all mobile phones manufacturers to provide the GPS feature on their devices in 2016.
Previously last year, the mobile phone manufacturers had approached the government with a representation that the feature phones and other devices which do not come under the smart phone category maybe excluded from this rule since it leads to the cost of the phone being hiked. The government had agreed to this plea and allowed this exemption.
Further the ministry put forth the argument that while the cost of the
phone may go up by only around Rs 200, the customers may not mind paying this
amount in return for the safety they can feel with the GPS facility on their
mobile devices. Furthermore experts says that the alternative of tracking
a phone using the mobile phone towers is not that effective, particularly, in
the rural regions, where seamless connectivity is still an issue due to poorer
tower density.
