India has backed away from a plan to force smartphone makers to pre-install a government app on all devices, following a backlash and growing concerns that the order would expand state access to users’ devices and weaken privacy protections.
On Wednesday, India’s telecom ministry he said Sanchar Saathi, an anti-theft and cyber security app, will remain voluntary and that smartphone manufacturers will no longer be required to pre-load it on devices they sell.
The new notice essentially reverses a directive issued to manufacturers last week (and released online on Monday) that instructed manufacturers to bake the app into all devices and prevent its features from being disabled. News of the order sparked concerns about privacy and state overreach.
“Given the growing acceptance of Sanchar Saathi, the government has decided not to make pre-installation mandatory for mobile phone manufacturers,” the ministry said.
However, the government has yet to issue a formal notification to smartphone makers reflecting the withdrawal, and manufacturers are still awaiting official guidance, two manufacturer sources involved in the proceedings told TechCrunch.
Since its launch in January 2025, Sanchar Saathi has so far been downloaded 14 million times and provides information on about 2,000 cyber fraud incidents per day, according to the Indian government. The recent controversy has increased interest in the platform, and the ministry noted that around 600,000 citizens signed up to download the app on December 2 alone.
The telecom ministry’s notice follows much confusion over whether the implementation was truly voluntary, as the government claimed. Telecom Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia had he insisted earlier this week users could delete Sanchar Saathi at any time, even though the guideline circulating among manufacturers said the app’s features “should not be disabled or restricted.”
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The conflicting signals sparked criticism that the government was trying to downplay the extent of its mandate. Critics warned that forcing a government app on every smartphone and preventing its features from being disabled would give authorities too much visibility into users’ devices.
The directive had also raised concerns in the industry, with manufacturers privately questioning the feasibility of imposing a permanent system-level application without clear legal backing.
Deputy Telecom Minister Pemmasani Chandra Sekhar he said in media interviews that Apple was not part of the task force on the initiative, although other smartphone makers were.
Sanchar Saathi had more than 3 million monthly active users in November, according to marketing intelligence firm Sensor Tower. Web traffic to Sanchar Saathi has also grown, with monthly unique visitors up more than 49% year-on-year, per Sensor Tower.
The Internet Freedom Foundation, a digital rights group based in New Delhi, called the reversal a “welcome development,” but caution urgednoting that it is still awaiting the legal order that should accompany the announcement. The group added that “cautiously optimistic, not shutdown” is warranted until revised guidelines under the Cybersecurity Rules, 2024 are published and independently verified.
Other parts of the Sanchar Saathi ecosystem continue to expand. Remarketing and trading platforms are still required to validate devices through a central IMEI database, and the telecom ministry is also piloting an API that could allow these companies to submit customer and device information directly to the state.
