Phones in India to be equipped with panic buttons from 2017

The Indian government last monday announced that all mobile phones sold in the country from January 2017 will need to be kitted out with a panic button feature.

This is to help address the issue of crimes against women, with over 900 committed every day.

For smartphones, the function will be activated by pressing the power button three times while for feature phones, a user will need to hold either the 5 or 9 key.

Starting with January of 2018, all phones will be required to house a GPS system as well.

The 337,922 reports of crimes against women in 2014 represented a 9.2 percent increase from the year before, according to India’s National Crime Records Bureau.

Installing a GPS in a handset will increase the cost to consumers between 266 and 400 rupees ($4-$6).