The Department of Telecommunications vide notification dated 17th September, 2024 has issued the Indian Wireless Telegraphy (Cell Broadcasting Service for Disaster Alerts) (Amendment) Rules, 2024. The amendment provides that no smartphone or feature phone shall be sold in India without mandatory support to receive cell broadcast messages in all Indian languages as per the Eighth Schedule to the Constitution of India;
No smartphone or feature phone shall be sold in India without mandatory support for auto-readout in Indian accent of cell broadcasts received in Hindi and English.
Manufactures, companies, software developers, or any other business entities involved in the manufacturing, importing, or development of operating software for smartphones or feature phones intended for sale in India, shall incorporate the auto-readout feature in Indian accent for four languages, other than Hindi and English, as per the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution of India every year from the date of this notification, until this feature is incorporated for all languages as per the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution of India.
