New certification rules stall facial recognition upgrades, raising short-term safety worries
The rollout of advanced CCTV cameras across railway stations in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) has slowed significantly following a regulatory change aimed at addressing concerns over potential surveillance by Chinese manufacturers.
Railway officials confirmed that the delay—triggered by revised certification requirements—could temporarily impact passenger safety, particularly on the Central Railway (CR) network, where surveillance infrastructure remains less advanced. Both the Government Railway Police (GRP) and the Railway Protection Force (RPF) depend heavily on CCTV systems for crime detection and prevention.
The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) issued a directive in April mandating that vendors supplying CCTV equipment with advanced features such as facial recognition software (FRS) must obtain certification from the Standardisation Testing and Quality Certification (STQC) directorate. The move follows national security concerns about the dominance of Chinese-made surveillance equipment and fears of unauthorised data access.
“STQC mandates complete control over product source codes, image sensors, firmware and hardware, rendering equipment procured from China non-compliant,” a senior railway official said.
According to officials, over 80% of the CCTV equipment currently used across India is sourced from China. The new certification rule requires vendors to reconfigure their products, replacing critical components such as chips and software to meet STQC standards.
While both Central and Western Railway divisions have already installed more than 2,200 CCTV cameras each across their respective networks, only those on the Western Railway are equipped with facial recognition capability. Central Railway was in the process of upgrading its systems when the new directive came into force.
The halted installations have affected ongoing procurement efforts by railway divisions and RailTel, the public sector undertaking responsible for digital connectivity along railway lines.
“Now, the Research, Design and Standards Organisation (RDSO) in Lucknow will inspect the CCTVs being procured by the railways, check if they adhere to protocols listed under the STQC, and then clear them for installation,” another official said.
Though the certification process is expected to bolster long-term data security and national surveillance standards, officials admit the current delay may pose short-term challenges to ensuring commuter safety across one of India’s busiest transport corridors.