Under Lockdown 4.0, the Ministry of Home Affairs has asked employers to ensure that Aarogya Setu is installed by all employees who have compatible mobile phones on a “best effort basis”. This is a changed rule, a much eased one, from what the MHA had mandated earlier. In the previous phase of the lockdown, employees had to mandatorily install the app and the company management had to ensure 100% coverage.

As per older rules, if any negligence was proven on the part of the director, manager, secretary or any executive, it would have led to punitive measures.

MHA’s Sunday notification has aksed district authorities to advise individuals to install Aarogya Setu on their mobile phones, if compatible, and regularly update their health status on it.

“This will facilitate timely provision of medical attention to those individuals who are at risk,” the notification said, adding that – “The Aarogya Setu mobile application is a powerful tool built by government to facilitate quick identification of persons infected by Covid-19, or at risk of being infected, thus acting as a shield for individuals and the community”.

Several companies and industry associations had sought a withdrawal of the mandatory clause on Aarogya Setu installation and also a reconsideration of the punitive measures on senior executives.