The telecom department has been asked by the home ministry to bar mobile phone companies from launching Nokia's popular messaging service--pushmail/powermail--in India until it put in place a legal monitoring system. “In view of the Intelligence Bureau’s report, the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) is requested to advice the Telecom Service Providers not to launch Nokia’s proposed pushmail/powermail service without putting in place monitoring facilities to the satisfaction of the LEAs,” ministry of home affairs told the Department of Telecom.

Nokia Messaging is a push e-mail UI that enables mobile users with compatible Nokia phones to manage multiple e-mail accounts. It can mobilise up to 10 e-mail accounts including Gmail, Yahoo!, Rediffmail, Sify and Indiatimes, amongst others.

With about 50 per cent of its E-Series smartphones getting activated for e-mails in the country, the company claims to clock over one lakh activations a month for its messaging e-mail service in India.

"Our push e-mail services are operator-agnostic and can be enjoyed by consumers across operator networks on a host of Nokia devices. We have been working proactively with Government authorities, including setting up servers in India. It is our endeavour at Nokia to comply fully with legal requirements wherever we operate. In offering our services in India, we have adhered to the rules and regulations as required by the Indian Government," the company said in an e-mail response to ET.