Government U-Turn: Claims “Sanchar Saathi” App will be “Optional,” Can be Deleted if Desired
Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, Dec 2: Amidst the opposition criticism that the mandated app “Sanchar Saathi” could be used to facilitate surveillance of people by the government, the Communications Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia on Tuesday defended the Department of Telecommunications (DoT)’s directions to phone makers pre-install the app on devices to be sold from March 2026 onwards.
Responding to the media’s questions on the new directions outside the Parliament, Mr Scindia clarified that mobile phone users will have the option to delete this app if they don’t want to use it. “Don’t activate it (Sanchar Saathi). If you want to keep it in your phone, keep it. If you want to delete it, do so. For example, when you buy a phone, many apps come pre-installed. Google Maps comes too. Now, if you don’t want to use Google Maps, delete it.”
“There is no snooping or call monitoring,” Mr Scindia said, “The way your phone has many pre-installed apps like Google Maps— you can delete Google Maps if you don’t want it, so you can delete this also,” Mr Scindia said. “Obviously you can delete it. There is no problem. This is a matter of customer protection. It is not mandatory. If you don’t want to register, and don’t want to use the app, don’t use it; don’t register, and it will lay dormant.”
Google’s pre-installed apps on many phone brands cannot be uninstalled; they can, however, be disabled. Apps bundled in with a phone may also enjoy elevated permissions access by default, even if the variant distributed on application marketplaces like Google Play and Apple’s App Store seek individual permissions on an ad hoc basis. Google Maps cannot be deleted from Android phones. It can, however, be disabled. Google Maps can, however, be deleted from iPhones.
Mr Scindia claimed that to protect people from stolen devices, it was the government’s “responsibility” to have the app distributed to all users. “If you don’t register, it will stay inactive.” “In one year, in 2024 alone, our country had ₹22,800 crore of frauds,” Mr Scindia said. “On one hand, the Opposition complains about increasing fraud. On the other, when we give the Sanchar Saathi to the common citizens, they cry Pegasus,” Mr Scindia said, referring to the Israeli-developed spyware acquired by the Intelligence Bureau, and allegedly used on Opposition leaders, activists and journalists in India.
“Those who don’t want to see the truth cannot be shown the truth,” Mr Scindia said. The minister said he was trying to shatter the myths regarding Sanchar Saathi. “This is a matter of customer protection. There is nothing mandatory. If you do not want to register it, don’t. It will stay dormant. And if you want to delete it, delete it. But not every person in the country knows that there is an app to protect him/her from fraud. So it is our responsibility to spread the information,” he said, explaining the rationale behind the government’s directive to phone manufacturers.
The Congress has flagged potential privacy risks due to the Centre’s directions to the phone manufacturers. Senior Congress leader KC Venugopal has said the move was “beyond unconstitutional.” “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 said on X.
Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra called Sanchar Saathi a “snooping app.” “It’s ridiculous. Citizens have the right to privacy. This isn’t just about snooping on telephones – overall, they are turning this country into a dictatorship in every possible form,” he said. Priyanka Chaturvedi, Rajya Sabha MP from Shiv Sena (UBT), said the Centre’s move was “another BIG BOSS surveillance moment.”
Congress MP Karti Chidambaram slammed the government. “This has been done in Russia and North Korea. They want to snoop on our private photos and videos,” he said.
Earlier the BJP had also dismissed the opposition allegation of using the app for surveillance of the people and claimed that the app had been designed solely to secure mobile phones and their users, not to access personal data. At a press conference, BJP MP and spokesperson Sambit Patra said the app had so far helped detect and disconnect about 1.75 crore fraudulent mobile connections, trace close to 26 lakh stolen/missing phones, and recover 7.5 lakh phones.
He said Sanchar Saathi cannot read messages, listen to calls, or extract personal data from a user’s device. Claiming that the app was optional, he reiterated, “It can be deleted like any other app,” the BJP leader said, adding that only those worried that their malpractices may be detected would never use it.
The BJP leader said the app helps users report suspicious calls, spams, and malicious links, track and recover stolen or lost mobile phones, detect International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI) duplications for use in any criminal activity, identify mobile numbers obtained using forged or stolen identities, and flag international calls spoofed as local numbers. The app also has verified helpline numbers for banks and essential services. The app does not engage in passive monitoring or any hidden background activity, Mr Patra said.
Some cyber fraud experts, however, have countered the government’s claims. What appears on paper as an anti-fraud initiative is, in practice, a compulsory state-owned software layer embedded deep into a user’s phone. This raises profound concerns about privacy, consent, and expanding surveillance power, they expressed the apprehension and pointed out that there were several other devices already available to locate lost or stolen devices. “Find My and Find Hub are opt-in services that individuals enable if they wish to locate lost or stolen devices, relying on Bluetooth, encrypted communication, and crowd-sourced networks capable of detecting devices even when offline,” the experts said.
Sources said Apple does not plan to comply with the government mandate to preload its smartphones with a state-owned cyber safety app and will convey its concerns to New Delhi.
Apple does not plan to comply with the directive and will tell the government it does not follow such mandates anywhere in the world as they raise a host of privacy and security issues for the company’s iOS ecosystem, said two of the industry sources who are familiar with Apple’s concerns. “Its not only like taking a sledgehammer, this is like a double-barrel gun,” said the source.
Other brands including Samsung are reviewing the order, said another industry source. While Apple tightly controls its App Store and proprietary iOS software – which are crucial to its $100-billion-per-year services business – Google’s Android is open-sourced, allowing manufacturers like Samsung and Xiaomi greater leeway to modify their software.
