India’s Department of Telecom (DoT) is pushing ahead with a plan to require all mobile phones have GPS from 1 January 2018 despite claims by handset makers the requirement will push up the cost of feature phones by 30 per cent, The Economic Times reported.

In a letter to the Indian Cellular Association, which represents most of the country’s handset makers, the government insisted that ensuring safety and security was its top priority and it wouldn’t reconsider its decision.

The government mandated all phones have GPS as well as a panic button in April 2016. Vendors complied with the panic button requirement by the 1 January 2017 deadline.

Handset makers have argued adding GPS functionality would increase the cost of feature phones, which in India are priced at INR500 ($8) to INR1,500, by as much as INR400.

Feature phones accounted for 55 per cent of the 245 million mobile phone shipments in India in 2016, according to IDC.