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An estimated four million mobile phone users in the country will be without phones due to glitches and failures in late May if restrictions on the sale of phones and parts continue, an industry body said on Friday.
Currently, it is estimated that more than 2.5 million mobile phone customers are using non-functional devices due to the lack of availability of components in the supply chain and the restriction on sales of new phones due to the blockade to contain the infection. by coronavirus, India Cellular and Electronics Association (ICEA) claimed.
The government has only allowed the sale of essential goods and services during the blockade that entered the fifth week. Telecommunications, internet, transmission and IT services operations are allowed, but not for mobile devices that are essential to access these services.
The ICEA, whose members include leading device manufacturers such as Apple, Foxconn and Xiaomi, said that on average roughly 2.5 million rupees are sold each month and that the active population of mobile phones is currently 85 million rupees.
“A very large proportion of these purchases are replacements. Also, even with greatly improved quality of phones and mobile devices, there is a breakdown of about 0.25 percent monthly. With the current mobile base at nearly Rs 85 million, it is clear that almost 2.5 million people suffer due to unavailability of new devices or the repair of their existing devices, “said ICEA.
The industry body has approached government authorities, including the Prime Minister, several times to include mobile phones in the list of essential products, as there may be life-threatening situations for many people without the devices.
“We have written to the government that these numbers will expand to almost 4 million rupees before the end of May. It is essential that sales of mobile devices over the Internet, and gradually through retail, as well as service centers with home delivery and collection facilities, should be declared as “essential services” in addition to groceries and medicines, “Pankaj, president of ICEA Mohindroo said.
Some district administrations have made the government’s coronavirus case-tracking app, Aarogya Setu, mandatory for those venturing out of their homes, which is challenging for those without smartphones.
ICEA said that it has made a joint representation with the CAIT merchant corps before the Minister of the Interior, the Minister of the Interior, the Minister of Commerce and Industry, the Secretary DPIIT and the Secretary MeitY (also currently president of the Empowered Group of Technology and Management Data) for allowing sales of mobile devices in the “essential services” category.
The Ministry of Electronics and Informatics has recommended that the Home Office include mobile devices that include laptops on the essential products list, but the MHA has not yet accepted it. PTI PRS MR
