India has backed away from its plan to force smartphone makers to pre-install a government app on all devices, following backlash and mounting concerns that the mandate would expand state access to users’ devices and weaken privacy protections.
On Wednesday, the Indian telecom ministry said Sanchar Saathi, an anti-theft and cybersecurity protection app, would remain voluntary, and that smartphone makers would no longer be required to preload it on devices they sell.
The new notice effectively reverses a directive issued to manufacturers last week (and circulated online on Monday) that had instructed manufacturers to bake the app into all devices and prevent its features from being disabled. News of the mandate soon ignited concerns over privacy and state overreach.
“Given Sanchar Saathi’s increasing acceptance, the government has decided not to make pre-installation mandatory for mobile manufacturers,” the ministry said.
However, the government has not yet issued an official notification to smartphone makers reflecting the withdrawal, and manufacturers are still waiting for formal instructions, two manufacturer sources involved with the proceedings told TechCrunch.
Since its release in January 2025, Sanchar Saathi has so far been downloaded 14 million times, and contributes information on roughly 2,000 cyber-fraud incidents per day, per the Indian government. The recent controversy boosted interest in the platform, and the ministry noted that about 600,000 citizens registered to download the app on December 2 alone.
The telecom ministry’s notice follows much confusion over whether the app was truly voluntary, as the government claimed. Telecom minister Jyotiraditya Scindia had insisted earlier this week that users could delete Sanchar Saathi at any time, even though the directive circulating among manufacturers stated that the app’s functionalities “must not be disabled or restricted.”
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The conflicting signals fueled criticism that the government was attempting to downplay the extent of its mandate. Critics warned that forcing a government app onto every smartphone, and preventing its features from being disabled would give authorities excessive visibility into users’ devices.
The directive had also raised concerns within the industry, with manufacturers privately questioning the feasibility of enforcing a permanent, system-level app without clear legal backing.
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