Lok Sabha Question No. 22 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2022-02-02
Subject: Internet of Things
Ministry: COMMUNICATIONS
Asked by: Rajveer (Raju Bhaiya) Singh, Sukanta Majumdar, Vinod Kumar Sonkar, Bhola Singh

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS DEPARTMENT OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 22 TO BE ANSWERED ON 2 ND  FEBRUARY, 2022

## INTERNET OF THINGS

22. SHRI RAJVEER SINGH (RAJU BHAIYA): DR. SUKANTA MAJUMDAR: SHRI VINOD KUMAR SONKAR: SHRI BHOLA SINGH:

Will the Minister of COMMUNICATIONS be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the Government has released 'Code of Practice for securing consumer Internet of Things (IoT)' in the country;
- (b) if so, the details thereof;
- (c) whether the Internet of Things (IoT) is one of the fastest emerging technologies across the globe which provides enormous beneficial opportunities for society, industry, and consumers;
- (d) if so, the Government's reaction thereto;
- (e) whether  the  Government  is  working  on  for  the  development  of  an  eco-system  for  5 billion connected devices by 2022 as per the National Digital Communication Policy (NDCP), 2018;
- (f) if so, the details thereof; and
- (g) the  other  steps  being  taken  by  the  Government  in  securing  consumer  IoT  devices  and ecosystem as well as managing vulnerabilities?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE FOR COMMUNICATIONS (SHRI DEVUSINH CHAUHAN)

(a) & (b) Yes, Telecom Engineering Centre (TEC), an attached office under Department of Telecommunications  (DoT)  has  released  'Code  of  Practice  for  securing  consumer  Internet  of Things (IoT)' in August' 2021. This document  provides baseline requirements for the implementation  of  'Security  by  design'  principle  in  Machine-to-Machine  (M2M)  devices manufacturing.

(c) & (d) Yes, IoT devices are being used to create smart infrastructure in various verticals such as Power, Automotive, Safety & Surveillance, Remote Health Management, Agriculture, Smart Homes and Smart Cities etc, using connected IoT devices.

(e) & (f) The following actions in IoT/M2M domain have been taken:

- i. OneM2M Release 2 standards have been accepted as National Standards.
- ii. 13 digit numbering plan exclusively for M2M, has been released.
- iii. M2M specific Know Your Customer (KYC) guidelines have been issued.
- iv. Use  of  electronic  Subscriber  Identification  Module  (eSIM)  with  Over-The-Air (OTA) in Indian environment has been permitted.
- v. Addition of 1 MHz in the unlicensed 865-867 MHz making it to 865-868 MHz with introduction of Duty cycle of 10%.
- vi. Introduction of UL(M2M) and UL-VNO(M2M) under Unified License (UL) and Unified License-Virtual Network Operator (UL-VNO) licenses.
- vii. Interface Requirement (IR) on embedded SIM has been released by TEC. These specifications  are  being  used  in  Ministry  of  Road  Transport  and  Highways (MoRTH)  standard  AIS140  for  tracking device mandated  for  commercial passenger vehicles. Same has also been adopted by Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) in its standard IS 16833.

(g) As part of Mandatory Testing and Certification of Telecom Equipment (MTCTE) scheme which has been launched in phases, the IoT Gateways /IoT devices have been mandated to be tested  and  certified  against  the  five  parameters  including  the  security  requirements  as  per  the Essential Requirements to improve security in IOT devices.

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