Not having Aarogya Setu on the phone is a punishable crime, Noida police say

Gautam Budh Nagar police have made not having the Aarogya Setu app on the phone a punishable offense. (File photo)

LA GAUTAM The Budh Nagar Police have made not having the Aarogya Setu application on one’s phone is a punishable offense.

Those who live in the district, which includes Noida and Greater Noida, as well as those who enter from abroad, must have the application installed on their smartphones, according to an order distributed the night of May 3 and effective from the day following.

“All those with smartphones that do not have the application can be reserved under Section 188 of the IPC (disobedience to an order duly promulgated by a public servant). After that, a judicial magistrate will decide whether the person will be tried, fined or dismissed with a warning, ”said Akhilesh Kumar, DCP, Law and Order.

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The Section may attract a fine of Rs 1,000 or imprisonment of up to six months.

“If people download it instantly, we will let them go. We are doing this so that people take the order seriously and download it. But if they don’t download it after repeated warnings, we will have to take action, “Kumar said.

In case someone doesn’t have mobile data, he said, “we’ll give them an access point so they can download it there and then.” And if there are other issues, such as lack of phone storage, the officer said they will take the person’s number and call to verify if they have downloaded the app.

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Gautam Budh Nagar Police Commissioner Alok Singh said: “Checks will be carried out at borders and checkpoints at random.” The police will also verify the implementation when they are on patrol.

“If a person does not have a smartphone, they will be asked to obtain one or bring it from their homes,” Singh said. Who doesn’t have a smartphone these days? People can say they don’t have their phones or that their phones are turned off, but we can’t make any exceptions. “

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