DoT asks telecom operators to submit compliance report on location-based services

A handful of mobile operators, including Bharti Airtel, Idea Cellular, Reliance Communications and BSNL, is yet to submit their compliance reports on accuracies achieved by them for detection of exact user location to Department of Telecom (DoT) .

In a reminder dated January 15, 2014, DoT had asked operators to submit reports for the accuracies achieved by them in implementing location-based services.

"Compliance reports from telecom service providers, except Tata Teleservices, Vodafone India, MTNL, SSTL, Aircel, Telewings Communications and Videocon Telecommunications, is still awaited," DoT had said in the reminder.

DoT added that operators were asked to submit the compliance report with respect to accuracies achieved so far by them, which can be used as input for deciding the methodology of measurement and for preparing road map for implementation of the accuracies.

In 2011, the Indian government had made it mandatory for telecom service providers to introduce location-based services across the country within three years.

The DoT had amended licence conditions of telecom service providers and asked them to provide location details of users as part of call data records.

According to the target set by the DoT, law enforcement agencies should be able to track 30 percent of mobile users in urban areas within 50 metres of the location pointed out by telecom operators.

Operators were also mandated to provide location details of 50 percent of subscribers within 300 metres in semi-urban and rural areas of Jammu and Kashmir, Assam and other northeastern states.