The Centre has issued an advisory stating that phones with frequency modulation (FM) receivers and tuners should not disable the feature by default.
According to the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), efforts should be made to provide the service on phones where it is not by default present.

The disabling of the feature had an impact on the central government’s ability to disseminate real-time information, the ministry said in its advisory to mobile phone manufacturing companies’ associations, the Indian Cellular and Electronics Association (ICEA) as well as the Manufacturers’ Association for Information Technology (MAIT).
It also asked the phone manufacturing companies’ associations to circulate this advisory among its members.

The advisory was issued after the IT ministry observed a “drastic fall” in FM tuners feature, affecting the ability of the poor to receive free FM radio services.