The Ministry of Electronics and IT (MeitY), late Sunday, while refuting a media report that the government of India is proposing to force smartphone majors, including Apple and Samsung, to share their software source code, said it routinely conducts consultations on safety and security-related matters with the industry. <\/p>\n
\u201cA structured process of stakeholder consultations is going on to develop an appropriate and robust regulatory framework for mobile security. These consultations are part of the ministry\u2019s regular and ongoing engagement with industry on safety and security standards,\u201d the IT Ministry said in an official statement. <\/p>\n
The routine consultations, it added, are centred on safety compliance, electromagnetic interference and compatibility (EMI\/EMC) parameters, Indian language support, interface requirements, and security standards. <\/p>\n
\u201cFollowing stakeholder consultations, detailed discussions are held with the industry on different dimensions of security requirements,\u201d the IT Ministry said in the statement. <\/p>\n
The proposed wide-ranging mandates, which may include a requirement to alert the government to major software updates and access to source code for testing at designated labs in India, are part of the 83 measures listed in the Indian Telecom Security Assurance Requirements, or ITSARs. <\/p>\n
The ITSAR document, issued by the telecom department’s (DoT) National Centre for Communication Security (NCCS) in early 2023, says that in order to ascertain claims and ensure security assurance, the test labs will conduct the source code review\/analysis, vulnerability analysis, penetration testing and fuzzing. <\/p>\n
\u201cMeitY refutes the statement by an international news organisation that the government is proposing to force smartphone makers to share source code with the government and make several software changes as part of a raft of security measures, prompting opposition from giants like Apple and Samsung,\u201d the IT Ministry, however, said. <\/p>\n
India has more than 750 million mobile phones. Industry sources told the news agency that the move lacks a global precedent, even as the Narendra Modi-led government is intensifying its efforts to bolster mobile security.<\/p>\n
According to Counterpoint Research, Samsung, Apple, and Xiaomi held a 13%, 9%, and 8% volume share, respectively, in the India smartphone market in the July to September quarter of 2025 (Q3CY25).<\/p>\n
\u201cThe ministry repeats that any legitimate concerns of the industry would be examined with an open mind in the best interest of country and industry,\u201d the IT Ministry said.<\/p>\n
The India Cellular and Electronics Association (ICEA), which represents Apple, Samsung, Xiaomi, and other handset makers, termed the government\u2019s consultations as \u201copen\u201d and \u201ctransparent\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is completely normal for the government to engage industry in such discussions – ask technical and compliance questions and for the industry to respond with international practises and what might be possible or not,\u201d said Pankaj Mohindroo, chairman of ICEA.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Ministry of Electronics and IT (MeitY), late Sunday, while refuting a media report that the government of India is proposing to force smartphone majors, including Apple and Samsung, to share their software source code, said it routinely conducts consultations on safety and security-related matters with the industry. \u201cA structured process of stakeholder consultations is going on to develop an appropriate and robust regulatory framework for mobile security. These consultations are part of the ministry\u2019s regular and ongoing engagement with industry on safety and security standards,\u201d the IT Ministry said in an official statement. The routine consultations, it added, are […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-985044","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-telecom"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/telecomlive.in\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/985044","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/telecomlive.in\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/telecomlive.in\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/telecomlive.in\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/telecomlive.in\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=985044"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/telecomlive.in\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/985044\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/telecomlive.in\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=985044"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/telecomlive.in\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=985044"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/telecomlive.in\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=985044"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}