The Indian government is on a monitoring spree!

After having given an ultimatum to the BlackBerry maker- Research In Motion to make its decryption code available to the security agencies. Now the Indian government has asked Google, Skype and some other companies providing communications services in the nation to make similar provisions.

As of now there is no information on any date for issuing a notice to these companies. This development comes after two days the government announced an extended time frame of 60 days for Research In Motion to try out the provisions that they had proposed in regards to giving access to the Indian security agencies.

BlackBerry was given a deadline till Aug. 31 to either provide access to its decryption data or pack their bags, after which RIM came up with certain proposals to avoid losing a one million market.

Earlier, this week the Ministry of Home Affairs said that all telecommunications services should make their communication data accessible to the intelligence agencies; failing to which there will be a ban on such services.

Media analysts predicted a move by the government against Google and Skype last month. Although there is no official confirmation, it is very likely to be true that Google and Skype will have to answer the home ministry as the ministry is in no mood to lax security in the country considering the fact that India is under the constant radar of terrorists.

In a meeting held by the Department of Telecommunications in August, there were talks of asking other online services besides RIM to provide access to India’s security agencies. The authorities want to intercept every mobile and online communications as terrorists are increasingly using mobile phones, instant messaging, and e-mails to plan attacks.

Under the country’s law, telecommunications service providers have to provide the law enforcement agencies with access to all communications on their networks. Right now analysts predict that it is Google’s Gmail and Skype’s Internet telephony service that is under the government radar.

A spokeswoman from Google India said that the internet giant has not received any such notice from the law enforcement agencies, and the company will respond only if there is an official word from the authorities.

We still have to wait and see where the fate of these internet providers lies.