Rajeev Chandrasekhar denies reports of mandatory lab testing of OS updates

On Tuesday, Reuters reported that India might ask smartphone makers to allow the removal of pre-installed apps and mandate screening of major operating system updates

Denying the reports that India may ask smartphone makers to mandate screening of operating system updates and authorise a Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) lab for testing, Union Minister of State for Electronics and Technology Rajeev Chandrasekhar said that there was no such "security testing".

"This story is plain wrong, there is no 'security testing' or 'crackdown' as the story suggests," he tweeted on Wednesday.

A report by Reuters on Tuesday stated that India might ask the smartphone makers to allow the removal of pre-installed apps and mandate screening of major operating system updates. It said the Centre is also considering mandating screening of every major operating system update before it is rolled out to consumers.

"Under the new rules, smartphone makers will have to provide an uninstall option and new models will be checked for compliance by a lab authorised by the Bureau of Indian Standards agency," the report said.

Chandrasekhar denied the claims and said, "Story is based on lack of understanding, perhaps an unfettered creative imagination that is based on an ongoing consultation process between Ministry and Industry on mobile security guidelines of BIS Standard IS17737 (Part-3) 2021".

BIS Standard 17737 (Part 3) defines security levels, the security requirements and the applicability of these security levels for security assessment, evaluation and certification of mobile devices.

"@GoI_MeitY is 100% committed to Ease of Doing Business and is totally focussed on growing Electronics manufacturing to touch $300 billion by 2026," his tweet read.