The Center on Saturday launched the Nationwide Cell Broadcast System (CBS), a communications-based alerting mechanism that sends emergency warnings directly to mobile phones in specific areas.
The system was launched by Communications Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia and was developed by the Center for Telecommunications Development (C-DOT) under the Department of Telecommunications (DoT), in collaboration with the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) and the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), under the guidance of Home Minister Amit Shah, a press release said on Saturday.
“Whenever a disaster strikes our country, the integration of human resources and technology today is brought together to ensure the safety of 1.4 billion people… It does not require any phone database or data system, and is completely operator-agnostic, which means all telecom service providers can connect to this network together,” Scindia said in a video post, loosely translated from Hindi, on X.
CBS allows authorities to send alerts to all phones within a specific location at the same time. Unlike SMS alerts, which can be delayed or queued, these messages are delivered almost instantly, even during network congestion. They appear as pop-up notifications with a loud alert tone, and on some phones, the message can also be read aloud.
As part of the rollout, a nationwide test was conducted on Saturday, with users across the country receiving test alerts around noon. “India, launches cell transmission using indigenous technology, to serve instant disaster alert to its citizens. Citizens alert, nation safe. No action is required by the public on receipt of this message. This is a test message. – Government of India,” the message titled ‘Very Severe Alert’ said.
The government had already flagged this earlier in the week, saying that people may receive messages in English, Hindi and regional languages, and that the recipient does not have to take any action. Some users received multiple test messages, especially if their phone has test alerts enabled.
The new system is built on top of the existing Integrated Alert System, or SACHET, platform, which already sends disaster alerts via SMS. The system, based on the Common Alerting Protocol (CAP), operates in all states and union territories and has been used to send more than 134 billion SMS alerts so far in more than 19 Indian languages.
The addition of cell broadcasting is intended to fill in the gaps in time-sensitive situations such as earthquakes, tsunamis, lightning strikes or industrial accidents where delays in SMS delivery can be significant.
CBS operates over 2G to 5G networks and is designed to reach everyone in the target area, including people who are roaming. The government said these alerts cannot be turned off during actual emergencies.
The system can send alerts in multiple languages and can scale from a small area, such as a group of cell towers, to larger areas, officials said. Trials have already been conducted across states, and the system has been used in disaster situations in Andhra Pradesh, Odisha and Uttarakhand, as well as during the Char Dham Yatra disaster.
