After backlash, government withdraws directive requiring Sanchar Saathi app on all new smartphones

Five days after the Indian government mandated that all mobile phones sold in the country come with the Sanchar Saathi app pre-installed, it has now decided to retract that directive. A statement from the Ministry of Communications confirmed this move on Wednesday (December 3), explaining that due to the app's growing popularity, making it compulsory was no longer necessary.

India telecom minister Jyotiraditya Scindia clarified in the Lok Sabha that the government was open to revising the rule if legitimate concerns were raised. Initially issued on November 28, the mandate required all new devices in India to have the Sanchar Saathi app pre-loaded, and language in the directive indicated that users wouldn't be able to remove or disable it. This sparked concerns among privacy advocates and civil society groups, who feared the app could be used as a government surveillance tool.

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The government soon reassured the public that users could uninstall the app, but privacy issues persisted. Scindia argued in Parliament that the app does not collect personal data and is designed solely to help users combat cyber fraud. According to Neeraj Mittal, Secretary of the Department of Telecommunications (DoT), the decision to revoke the mandate followed the app's significant uptake, with over 600,000 new registrations in just one day. This surge in adoption, Mittal said, proved that citizens were confident in the app’s utility for fraud prevention.

Despite the reversal, some in the mobile manufacturing industry welcomed the decision. The opposition, however, criticised the move, accusing the government of attempting to create a surveillance state under the guise of safety. Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera argued that the Sanchar Saathi app could give authorities access to private data, drawing parallels to the Pegasus spyware scandal.

The Sanchar Saathi app has been downloaded by over 14 million users, contributing to daily reports of around 2,000 fraud incidents. The government hopes that by making the app more accessible, even those less familiar with its features will benefit from its fraud-prevention tools.