A mobile internet shutdown across a four-kilometre radius in central Delhi disrupted digital payments, navigation, delivery work and protest communications from Friday night through Saturday evening, adding to the disruption caused by a major security crackdown in the capital.
The shutdown began at 10 p.m. on October 9 and covered the area around the intersection of Janpath and Kartavya Path, two of the city’s busiest roads in the administrative centre. The Hindu reported that it was geographically the largest such curb in Delhi since the protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act in 2019.
Digital payments largely stopped functioning in the affected area, except at restaurants, shops and other facilities equipped with WiFi. The disruption was particularly significant for people dependent on mobile connectivity for routine transactions and work. Gig workers needed mobile data to receive orders and to resume operations after completing a delivery or ride in the restricted zone.
The shutdown also affected Google Maps, whose real-time traffic updates rely on crowdsourced information from users. Turn-by-turn navigation showed long routes around Lutyens’ Delhi during the afternoon because restrictions that had already been removed were not updated quickly in some areas. The disruption affected not only access to information but also the ability of commuters and service workers to understand changing road conditions.
The curbs did not appear to be enforced uniformly across all networks. Some users of one telecom operator reported that they continued to have access until late Saturday afternoon. By Saturday evening, mobile data had been restored in at least parts of central Delhi, although the report did not establish the full extent or timing of restoration across the affected area.
Protesters also faced difficulties contacting friends and family elsewhere in the city and were unable to send photographs or videos during the shutdown. The restrictions therefore affected both everyday urban activity and the flow of information from the protest area.
The Internet Freedom Foundation criticised the shutdown, saying that the order had not been published despite a legal requirement to do so. The organisation said a communication shared by newswire agency ANI invoked Rule 3 of the relevant rules but was marked “Top Secret”.
“The government has placed no evidence before the public that a shutdown makes a protest safer,” the foundation said. It cited a 2019 study of shutdowns and protests in India by Jan Rydzak, then at Stanford’s Global Digital Policy Incubator, which found that shutdowns were “much more strongly associated with increases in violent collective action than with non-violent mobilization”.
The reported shutdown was accompanied by apparent restrictions on some political and social media accounts, although the scale of those measures was not immediately clear. The Congress party’s Seva Dal account on X was withheld, while Meta blocked the Instagram handle of B.V. Srinivas, the organisation’s chief organiser, in India. Mr. Srinivas said he would approach the Delhi High Court against the blocking.
The restoration of data access in parts of central Delhi marked the latest reported step in lifting the curbs. The publication of the shutdown order, the extent of remaining restrictions and any court proceedings will determine how the episode is formally reviewed.
