India has reversed its decision to require smartphone makers to preinstall Sanchar Saathi, a government-backed anti-theft and cybersecurity app, after a wave of public concern over privacy and potential state overreach.
The telecom ministry announced on Wednesday that the app would remain optional and that phone manufacturers would no longer be obligated to include it on devices sold in the country. The move comes just days after a directive instructing manufacturers to embed the app and prevent its features from being disabled circulated widely online, prompting strong criticism.
The ministry said growing public interest in Sanchar Saathi made a mandatory rollout unnecessary, but industry insiders noted that an official withdrawal notice has yet to reach manufacturers. Sanchar Saathi, introduced in January 2025, has already been downloaded 14 million times and receives data on about 2,000 cyber-fraud cases daily, according to government figures. The controversy appears to have driven fresh attention to the platform, with roughly 600,000 people signing up to download the app on December 2 alone.
Mixed messages from officials fueled deeper skepticism about the true intent of the initial directive. While telecom minister Jyotiraditya Scindia publicly claimed users could delete the app at any time, the circulated government order stated that its functions “must not be disabled or restricted.”
Critics argued that forcing a permanent government app onto every smartphone would give authorities undue access to user devices and could weaken privacy safeguards. Manufacturers also questioned how such a system-level requirement could be enforced without clear legal justification.
Digital rights advocates welcomed the reversal but insisted the government should issue a formal, legally backed notice to clarify its position. Groups such as the Internet Freedom Foundation urged continued vigilance until updated directions under the Cyber Security Rules, 2024, are published and independently verified.
Meanwhile, other elements of the Sanchar Saathi ecosystem remain in motion: trade-in and recommerce platforms are still obliged to verify device identities through a central IMEI database, and the telecom ministry is testing an API that could allow companies to submit device and user details directly to the government.