Under fire, Union government withdraws Sanchar Saathi app order

The Union government on Wednesday, 3 December, abruptly scrapped its contentious directive requiring smartphone makers to pre-load Sanchar Saathi, the Centre’s cyber security and anti-fraud application, after a surge in public criticism and industry pushback.

In a statement, the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) said it was withdrawing the mandate following an unexpected spike in voluntary downloads. According to the ministry, the app saw a ten-fold increase in uptake within 24 hours, with six lakh new registrations recorded on Tuesday alone. Officials framed the reversal as a response to “increasing acceptance” of the platform, insisting the original order had merely sought to help “less aware citizens” access the tool more easily.

The about-turn comes barely a week after the DoT’s 28 November directive, which instructed all smartphone manufacturers to pre-install Sanchar Saathi on new devices and push it onto existing ones via software updates. The order sparked immediate controversy — not just politically but within the technology industry itself.

Multiple handset makers, including Apple, are understood to have flatly refused to implement the mandate, citing long-standing global policies against pre-installing non-system government apps and raising concerns over user privacy, device security, and the precedent such a requirement would set.

Apple, which tightly controls software allowed on its devices, reportedly communicated that it would not integrate a government app that users could not delete, as this would violate its privacy and user-consent standards.

Several Android manufacturers — industry sources cited firms such as Samsung, Xiaomi and Vivo — also conveyed discomfort. While Android offers more flexibility, companies were wary that bundling a government-operated app with potential access to sensitive device-level identifiers could trigger regulatory complications abroad, damage user trust, and raise questions from global privacy watchdogs.

Their resistance significantly complicated the DoT’s implementation timeline and amplified scrutiny of the order’s legal footing.

Opposition parties seized on the directive, accusing the government of attempting to smuggle in a mass-surveillance tool. Congress leaders, led by Randeep Singh Surjewala, argued the app could enable real-time location tracking, unauthorised monitoring of calls and messages, and effectively convert every Indian smartphone into a potential surveillance device. They demanded the government clarify the statutory authority under which the directive was issued, and commit to enforceable data-protection safeguards.

The government has repeatedly maintained that Sanchar Saathi merely helps citizens detect fraudulent SIM cards, block stolen phones and curb telecom scams. However, privacy experts have warned that any mandated, undeletable app — particularly one controlled by a Central authority — raises structural concerns under India’s still-evolving data protection regime.

For now, the DoT has retreated, saying manufacturers will not be compelled to include the app on devices. But the episode has revived a broader debate over the state’s growing appetite for digital oversight and the limits of executive power in an era of increasingly intrusive technologies.

With agency inputs