Technology

India is giving Apple quite a tough time over its anti-spam app

Written by Ammara Saleem ·  1 min read >
Apple

Indian Government has turned down the request of Cupertino giant, Apple to exempt the iPhone from anti-spam laws related to the mandatory anti-spam app. Users in India have to majorly deal with spam calls and messages and this official app helps in making complaints and then authorities take action against the spammer.

India’s Telecom Regulatory Authority (TRAI) requires that Apple provides access to an official anti-spam app, TRAI DND 2.0. India’s official anti-spam app requires access to user’s call logs and text messages archive. But App store rules do not allow apps that can see users’ call logs and text messages.

Apple sent a letter to TRAI in mid-July and requested reconsidering the action to drop noncompliant phones from the network. Apple’s request got refused straight away.

“The most appropriate way to challenge this is in court,” TRAI Chairman R.S. Sharma said while talking to Reuters.

Apple is hesitant to allow access to the app as the company believes it violates the privacy policy of the App Store.

India is quite an important region for Apple’s growth as iPhone SE is manufactured in the country for selling locally.

In June, Apple started production of iPhone 6s with the local partner in the region. Last month India warned Apple that if the Cupertino giant does not comply with demands of government within six months then iPhones will be banned from Indian networks.

Other than that, what else keeps Apple stressed is the downfall in sales fo around 50 percent and is working on it by devising a five-point plan to counter the issue.

This means that while iPhones will be available for purchase in the region, users will not have any supported cellular network to get connected.

Written by Ammara Saleem
I love to cover news about latest happenings in startup ecosystem and world of technology. I am obsessed with the use of Tech gadgets and always prefer to use them unless I have to make a choice between paperback and Kindle. Profile