According to the document seen by journalists, India plans to force smartphone makers to allow the removal of pre-installed apps and mandate the screening of major operating system updates under proposed new security rules.
The new rules, the details of which have not previously been reported, could cause delays in the world’s No.2 smartphone market and result in business losses from pre-installed apps for players such as Samsung (005930. KS), Xiaomi (1810. HK), Vivo, and Apple (AAPL.O).
India’s IT ministry is considering these new rules amid concerns about spying and abuse of user data, said a senior government official, one of the two people, declining to be named as the information is not yet public.
“Pre-installed apps can be a security risk, and we want to make sure that no foreign countries, including China, take advantage of this. It is an issue of national security “the official went on to say.
Since a border clash between the two countries in 2020, India has increased its scrutiny of Chinese businesses, banning more than 300 Chinese apps, including TikTok. It has also increased scrutiny of Chinese investments.
Many nations have also imposed restrictions on the use of technology from Chinese firms such as Huawei (HWT.UL) and Hikvision (002415. SZ) due to concerns that Beijing could use them to spy on foreign citizens. These allegations are denied by China.
Currently, most smartphones come with pre-installed apps that cannot be deleted, such as Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi’s app store GetApps, Samsung’s payment app Samsung Pay mini and iPhone maker Apple’s browser Safari.
Under the new rules, smartphone makers will have to provide an uninstall option and new models will be checked for compliance by a lab authorized by the Bureau of Indian Standards agency, two people with knowledge of the plan said.
The government is also considering mandating screening of every major operating system update before it is rolled out to consumers, one of the people said.
“Majority of smartphones used in India are having pre-installed Apps/Bloatware which poses serious privacy/information security issue(s),” stated a Feb. 8 confidential government record of an IT ministry meeting, seen by Reuters.
The closed-door meeting was attended by representatives from Xiaomi, Samsung, Apple, and Vivo, the meeting record shows.
The government has decided to give smartphone makers a year to comply once the rule comes into effect, the date for which has not been fixed yet, the document added.
The companies and India’s IT ministry did not respond to a Reuters request for comment.
Massive Hindrance
India’s fast-growing smartphone market is dominated by Chinese players, with Xiaomi and BBK Electronics’ Vivo and Oppo accounting for almost half of all sales, Counterpoint data shows. South Korea’s Samsung has a 20% share and Apple has a 3%.
While European Union regulations require allowing the removal of pre-installed apps, it does not have a screening mechanism to check for compliance like India is considering.
An industry executive said some pre-installed apps like the camera are critical to user experience and the government must make a distinction between these and non-essential ones when imposing screening rules.
Smartphone players often sell their devices with proprietary apps, but also sometimes pre-install others with which they have monetization agreements.
The other worry is more testing could prolong approval timelines for smartphones, a second industry executive said. Currently, it takes about 21 weeks for a smartphone and its parts to be tested by the government agency for safety compliance.
“It’s a massive hindrance to a company’s go-to-market strategy,” the executive said.
