India's Mandatory Sanchar Saathi App Installation Sparks Privacy Concerns and Political Debate

The Centre has issued a directive to mobile phone manufacturers requiring the installation of the Sanchar Saathi application on all devices sold in India.

A significant political controversy has emerged following the Indian government's mandate for phone manufacturers to pre-install the Sanchar Saathi mobile application on all devices manufactured or imported into the country. While government officials maintain this initiative aims to protect citizens from cyber fraud and assist in recovering lost devices, the Congress party and other opposition groups have voiced strong concerns, characterizing the move as potential state surveillance and calling for immediate withdrawal of the directive.

Sanchar Saathi functions as a digital safety platform initiated by the Central government, offering various citizen-focused services through both mobile application and web portal interfaces. Among these services is Chakshu, which enables users to report suspected fraudulent activities. According to the official website, "Such proactive reporting of suspected fraud communication helps Department of Telecommunications in prevention of misuse of telecom resources for cyber-crime, financial frauds etc." Users can also utilize Chakshu to report unwanted commercial communications.

The platform additionally allows citizens to report malicious web links and fraudulent communications, including phishing attempts, device cloning efforts, and malware distributed through SMS, RCS, iMessage, and messaging platforms like WhatsApp and Telegram.

The Department of Telecommunications, operating under the Ministry of Communications led by Jyotiraditya Scindia, has instructed manufacturers to ensure the Sanchar Saathi application is pre-installed on all mobile devices manufactured or imported into India within a 90-day timeframe beginning November 28.

The official notification specifies that companies must "Ensure that the pre-installed Sanchar Saathi application is readily visible and accessible to the end users at the time of first use or device setup and that its functionalities are not disabled or restricted." For devices already manufactured, companies have been instructed to distribute the application through software updates, with warnings of consequences for non-compliance.

Opposition parties have responded critically to this directive. KC Venugopal, a senior Congress leader, described the measure as "beyond unconstitutional," stating, "Big Brother cannot watch us. The Right to Privacy is an intrinsic part of the fundamental right to life and liberty, enshrined in Article 21 of the Constitution." He further argued that "A pre-loaded government app that cannot be uninstalled is a dystopian tool to monitor every Indian" and called for immediate withdrawal of the directive.

Priyanka Chaturvedi, Rajya Sabha MP representing Shiv Sena (UBT), characterized the initiative as "another BIG BOSS surveillance moment," warning that "Such shady ways to get into individual phones will be protested and opposed & if the IT Ministry thinks that instead of creating robust redressal systems it will create surveillance systems then it should be ready for a pushback."

According to Reuters reporting, this government mandate may lead to conflict with manufacturers like Apple, which has previously opposed similar requirements citing privacy and security concerns. When contacted, Apple, Samsung, and Xiaomi did not respond to media inquiries, nor did the Communications Ministry.

Industry sources speaking anonymously told Reuters that the government did not consult with device manufacturers before issuing the order. The Sanchar Saathi website claims the platform has been used to block 4.2 million stolen devices and facilitate the recovery of 700,000 phones, with over 10 million downloads on Android devices and approximately 1 million on iOS.