The Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) has urged the central government to control internet shutdowns, Reuters news report said.

The government in 2019 had said emergency Internet shutdowns were a matter for states in the interest of law and order.

Some of the members of IAMAI include Alphabet’s Google, Twitter, Facebook and Reliance among others.

A letter from IAMAI said the federal government should act as the governing authority for internet suspensions, and states must follow a procedure laid out by it.

Internet shutdowns cost the country more than $580 million in 2021, with 59 million people impacted by the halt of wireless services that lasted for over 1,150 hours, a research report by internet privacy group top10vpn says.

India has led the world in total internet shutdowns in the past four years, accounting for 58 percent of the 182 recorded globally last year, according to internet advocacy group Access Now.

State governments in the country often resort to this to maintain law and order, for instance amid protests, or also in some cases to prevent cheating during exams.

Once a shutdown order is issued, telecom companies turn off the cellular networks at transmitting towers providing mobile phone internet services in the area, disrupting services like Google, Twitter, and WhatsApp.

Big tech firms in India are already facing stricter rules on everything from data storage to compliance norms, raising their costs and dampening investment plans.

“Internet shutdowns are widely disproportionate and excessive. They hurt livelihoods, education, health care for lakhs of people,” said Radhika Jhalani, Volunteer Legal Counsel at Software Freedom and Law Center, which has tracked the issue.

About 96 percent of internet users in India are mobile internet users and shutdowns bring their lives to a standstill, she added.