Delhi’s largest mobile internet shutdown in years disrupted digital payments, navigation, gig work and protest communication across central Delhi before data access was partially restored on Saturday evening, according to a report by The Hindu.
The shutdown was imposed from 10 p.m. on Friday, October 9, through Saturday evening across a four-kilometre radius centred on the intersection of Janpath and Kartavya Path. The area includes two of the capital’s busiest thoroughfares and lies within the administrative heart of New Delhi.
The immediate impact was visible in everyday transactions. Digital payments largely stopped working in the affected area, except at restaurants, shops and other facilities equipped with WiFi. Protesters attempting to communicate with friends and family elsewhere in the city were unable to send photographs or videos through mobile data.
The disruption also affected workers whose livelihoods depend on continuous connectivity. Gig workers needed mobile data to receive orders, navigate to destinations and resume work after completing a delivery or ride. Without access, the shutdown interfered not only with communication but also with the basic digital systems through which delivery and transport work is coordinated.
Google Maps was also affected. The platform could not receive up-to-date information on traffic restrictions or traffic movement because its real-time updates rely on crowdsourced data from users. Turn-by-turn directions reportedly continued to show long routes around Lutyens’ Delhi, even after some restrictions had been removed and police had cleared particular areas.
Access was not uniform across the affected zone. Some users of one telecom operator reported that mobile internet remained available until late Saturday afternoon, suggesting that enforcement or restoration differed between networks. By Saturday evening, data access had been restored in parts of central Delhi, although the report said the curbs had been lifted only partially.
The shutdown followed a major security crackdown on attempts to protest in the capital. The Hindu reported that the geographical extent of the restriction was the largest in Delhi since the protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act in 2019. The report did not identify the full operational details of the enforcement measures beyond the affected radius and duration.
The Internet Freedom Foundation criticised the restriction and said the shutdown order had not been published, despite what it described as a legal requirement. The organisation said a communication shared by the news agency ANI invoked Rule 3 of the relevant rules, which also requires publication of the order, while the document was marked “Top Secret”.
The foundation also said the Government had not placed evidence before the public showing that an internet shutdown makes a protest safer. It cited a 2019 study by Jan Rydzak, then at Stanford’s Global Digital Policy Incubator, which found that shutdowns were more strongly associated with increases in violent collective action than with non-violent mobilisation.
The episode was accompanied by reported restrictions on social media accounts. The Congress party’s Seva Dal account on X, formerly Twitter, was withheld, while B.V. Srinivas, the organisation’s chief organiser, said his Instagram handle had been blocked in India by Meta. Mr. Srinivas said he would approach the Delhi High Court to challenge the blocking.
The incident leaves two immediate administrative questions: the publication and legal basis of the shutdown order, and the extent to which mobile data access has been restored across the notified area. The next confirmed development is the proposed legal challenge by Mr. Srinivas and further clarification on the status of connectivity in central Delhi.
