Emergency push button on mobile handsets

NEW DELHI: All mobile handsets sold from January 2017 will have to feature a ' panic button' according to a notification of the telecom department. All handsets will further need to feature inbuilt GPS to identify the handset user’s location from January 2018.

The communications and IT minister Ravi Shankar Prasad while announcing the decision said, "Technology is solely meant to make human life better and what better than using it for the security of women, I have taken a decision that from 1st Jan, 2017, no cell phone can be sold without a provision for panic button and from 1st Jan 2018 mobile sets should have also GPS inbuilt."

While Numeric key '5' and '9' have been identified as push buttons for an emergency in feature phone handsets, in smartphones mobile handset manufacturers will have to provide an 'emergency' push button or the facility to alert by short pressing the power on or off button thrice in quick succession.

As reported earlier by ET, the government is of the view that emergency response apps can take too long to access in a rush— configuring one of the existing buttons on a phone for the task would be much simpler and quicker. This is part of a string of measures announced by the Modi government to ensure safety of women.