The Government of India movement to force a security app to be installed On all mobile phones sold in the country it has lasted less than a week. On November 28, the Ministry of Telecommunications sent a private communication to the manufacturers in which it gave them 90 days to comply with the measure. However, the general rejection of public opinion, doubts about its impact on cybersecurity and the apparent opposition of some manufacturers have forced a change in plans.
The order began to gain public relevance when its internal details became known. Reuters noted that The Government not only requested the mandatory presence of Sanchar Saathi in new mobile phones, but also its incorporation in those already in the supply chain through software updates. The agency also reported that the initial instruction specified that the application could not be disabled.
What is Sanchar Saathi. The program’s own website define the tool as a public service aimed at empowering users against fraud and device theft. It is available as a mobile application and also as a web portal, from where it is possible to temporarily lock a lost phone, track subsequent use attempts and, if recovered, reactivate it. The Government frames these functions within a broader digital education effort, with end-user security materials and advisories.
From security discourse to doubts about surveillance. The debate intensified when opposition figures and privacy specialists They questioned the initiative. In his opinion, an application managed by the State, coupled with such a broad mandate, required additional guarantees to rule out intrusive uses. Organizations such as the Internet Freedom Foundation They asked for transparency and access to the full legal text. Under pressure, Scindia publicly defended that “spying is not possible” with Sanchar Saathi and denied that the app can be used for surveillance.
Opposition from manufacturers added pressure to the process. Reuters indicated that Apple had no intention to comply with the order as it was proposed and that it would convey its objections to the Government, while Samsung and other actors expressed similar reservations. According to sources cited by international media, the companies questioned whether the instruction had been issued without prior consultation and warned of its impact on the privacy policies of their ecosystems. The context was not minor: India has become one of the fastest growing markets for smartphones, especially for companies like Apple and other large manufacturers.
An express reverse gear with success figures in hand. The rectification came on December 3, when the Ministry of Communications published a note announcing that mandatory pre-installation was no longer necessary. The decision was justified by the “growing acceptance” by Sanchar Saathi, which according to the Government now has 14 million users and allows around 2,000 frauds to be reported daily. Only the previous day, 600,000 new registrations had driven tenfold growth. Scindia then insisted that “spying is not possible”, despite the skepticism of specialized groups.
In recent years, as reported by BloombergIndia has driven decisions that have forced big tech companies to readjust, such as demands for access to encrypted information or recent attempts to have manufacturers distribute the GOV.in public app suite. All of this occurs in a market that is strategic for Apple and Google, both in sales and production. The withdrawal of the mandate makes it clear that these dynamics continue to evolve and that balances will likely continue to be redefined.
Images | Ministry of Communications of India | Piyanshu Sharma
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