India’s Department of Telecommunications has removed the mandatory requirement issued to mobile phone handset manufacturers and importers to pre-install the Sanchar Saathi app in all cellphones in the country. This move comes after concerns raised over privacy and state surveillance through the app.
Sanchar Saathi is an initiative the government launched on 17 January 2025, aiming to tackle increased incidents of cybercrime and mobile handset theft.
The government had mandated the reinstallation of the app aiming to protect buyers from non-genuine handsets, smooth reporting of suspected misuses and increased effectiveness of the Sanchar Saathi initiative. The government now says pre-installation is not mandatory, but elective owing to the large acceptance of the initiative. Comunications Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia has emphasised that the app is voluntary and users can choose to activate or deactivate the app to access its uses and benefits, and even delete it from their device.
The app allows users to track and block their stolen handsets, report numbers wrongly associated with their government identifications, report fraud connections and benefit from financial fraud risk indicators. Since its launch, the initiative has had success and the government hopes that, with increased use, the larger user base will result in in better success.
