Research In Motion (RIM) is said to have setup a facility in Mumbai to help the Indian government carry out lawful surveillance of its BlackBerry services.
Media reports have suggested that RIM gave Indian authorities' access to its messenger services earlier this year in order to tide over security concerns.
The facility will help RIM in decoding messages (for the security authorities) that have been sent or received by a suspect as long as it is satisfied the request has legal authorisation, the reports said.
However, RIM would still not enable the authorities to monitor its enterprise mail.
A RIM spokesperson did not specifically comment on the development when contacted.
“RIM continues to work very well with the Government of India and we have welcomed the positive new draft of the India Telecommunications Policy recently released by the Minister, Mr Kapil Sibal. We are not operating under any deadlines and we are confident the Government of India is now applying its security policy in a consistent manner to all hand set makers and service providers in India. RIM should, therefore, not be singled out any more than any other provider. RIM's business continues to grow very nicely in India and that is our primary focus there," the RIM spokesperson said.
RIM has been involved in an over three-year battle with India's security agencies which are demanding access to BlackBerry communications, citing national security threats. The stakes are big for the Canadian smartphone maker, especially since India is one of its fastest growing markets.
Secure corporate email has been RIM's unique selling point, making it an instant hit with the over a million BlackBerry users.