Indian Government Reverses Mandatory Sanchar Saathi App Pre-Installation Order Following Privacy Concerns

Centre Rolls Back Order On Mandatory Pre-Installation Of Sanchar Saathi App

New Delhi:

The government on Wednesday rescinded an order that required pre-installation of the Sanchar Saathi cybersecurity application on all smartphones sold in India.

The directive to manufacturers - including Apple, which was reportedly preparing a legal challenge - was withdrawn because "the number of users who have downloaded the app (over six lakh in 24 hours and 1.4 crore users overall) has been increasing rapidly."

The mandatory pre-installation "was meant to accelerate this process."

The official statement confirmed Communications Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia's assertions from yesterday and repeated in Parliament today - users have the freedom to delete the app.

"The government, with an intent to provide access to cybersecurity to all citizens, mandated pre-installation of Sanchar Saathi app on all smartphones. The app is secure and meant to help citizens from bad actors in the cyber world. There is no other function other than protecting users... and they can remove the app..."

The reversal came after two days of protests regarding concerns that the pre-installation mandate infringes on privacy rights and fears that the application could potentially be used for surveillance, reminiscent of the Pegasus spyware controversy.

Earlier today, Scindia addressed the Lok Sabha, stating, "Snooping is neither possible nor will it happen with the Sanchar Saathi app. And I can delete it like any other app... as every citizen has this right in a democracy. We took this step to make it accessible to all."

"The success of the app is based on public participation. But now, based on feedback from the public, we are ready to bring a change in the order," the BJP leader explained.

Opposition members expressed strong disapproval of the initial mandate. Congress MPs Priyanka Gandhi Vadra called it "ridiculous," adding, "This isn't just about snooping on telephones - overall, they are turning this country into a dictatorship." Her colleague Karti Chidambaram told NDTV, "This has been done in Russia and North Korea (and) now they want to snoop on our private photos and videos."

Priyanka Chaturvedi from the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena described it as "another BIG BOSS surveillance moment."

Sanchar Saathi is a security and awareness platform developed by the Department of Telecommunications (DoT), accessible both as a mobile application - for Android and Apple devices - and via web portal.

According to the government, it helps citizens manage their digital identities, report suspicious activities, safeguard their devices, and provides educational materials on telecom safety and cyber risks.