New Delhi: The Government of India has withdrawn its earlier directive that required all mobile manufacturers to pre-install the Sanchar Saathi app on new smartphones, the Ministry of Communications announced on Wednesday.
The ministry explained that the original mandate was introduced to expand access to key cyber-security tools and protect citizens from digital fraud. Sanchar Saathi, designed to help users detect fraudulent mobile connections, track lost phones, and guard against cyber threats, continues to be a fully secure, citizen-centric application.
“The Government, with an intent to provide access to cyber security to all citizens, had mandated pre-installation of the Sanchar Saathi app on all smartphones. The app is secure and meant solely to safeguard citizens from bad actors in the cyber world,” the ministry said.
Officials added that as voluntary use of the app has steadily increased, the requirement for mandatory pre-installation was reconsidered. The government has now decided that phone makers will not be obligated to include the app by default.
Sanchar Saathi will continue to be available on app stores for users who want to benefit from its digital safety features.
