Handset companies seek one more year to start gear testing

NEW DELHI: Mobile handset makers including Samsung, Oppo and Honor have sought an additional year to start mandatory local device testing, saying that hastily implementing the regime would only hurt sales in the upcoming Diwali season and affect India’s local manufacturing programme.

In a letter, some 70 handset makers including local companies Micromax and Karbonn, represented by the Mobile Association, sought an extension of the October 1, 2018, deadline set by the Department of Telecommunications in September last year to start equipment testing from any authorised agency in India. “Lack of infrastructure, limited test labs, final portal not ready and absence of single window for certification” have forced mobile brands to seek an extension, Bhawna Kumari, president of the association, said in a statement Monday.

She said a hurried rollout of the new equipment regime for mobile phones would affect sales during the upcoming festive season. The companies urged the ministry of communications to extend the deadline by at least one year, adding that that there were many pending issues that would hamper the smooth rollout of the testing regime.