Mobile phone manufacturers may be required to produce handsets with panic button from January 1, 2017. According to a report by the Times of India, a notification for the same will be issued this week. This facility will allow users to long press a set of buttons to send an alert to their families or friends, along with the location. For existing smartphones, a software upgrade is being planned that will act in the same way as a panic button. An official told the publication, “We are working towards a software that can be downloaded which will have the same function as the panic button. For those with ordinary handsets, we are talking to manufacturers so that the user can go to a service centre and get the application for free.” The source also said that this project will be funded via the Nirbhaya fund, set up by the UPA government.
The idea of having such a feature has been floating around for a while now. In December 2015, it was reported that Union Minister Maneka Gandhi had spoken to mobile phone manufacturers to introduce a similar panic button feature in handsets from March 2016. However, instead of alerting friends or family, the button would immediately call the police in the event of an emergency.