In a pursuit to curb the novel coronavirus and speed up the testing process, Noida police have made installing of Aarogya Setu application mandatory. If you are living in Noida and you are not having the Aarogya Setu application then it will be considered as a lockdown violation. If there is no app, a case can be registered under section 188 of the IPC. Apart from this, six months in jail or fine of up to 1000 rupees may have to be given.
Noida falls in the Red Zone.
“All those with smartphones who do not have the application can be booked under Section 188 of the IPC. After that, a judicial magistrate will either decide if the person will be tried, fined or left with a warning,” said Akhilesh Kumar, DCP Law and Order.
“If people download it instantly, we will let them go. We are doing this so that people take the order seriously and download it. But if they do not download it after repeated warnings, we will have to take action,” said Kumar.
In case someone does not have mobile data, he said, “we will give them hotspot so that they can download it there and then.” And if there are other issues such as lack of phone storage, the officer said they will take the person’s phone number and call to check whether they have downloaded it. The police will conduct checks at borders, market areas and any other areas where they are out on patrol duty.
This has effectively made installing the app mandatory despite the Centre’s guidelines clearly stating that only those employed in the private and public sectors and attending offices should install it.