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The telecom ministry has directed all major smartphone makers to pre-install the government’s Sanchar Saathi cybersecurity app on every new phone sold in the country, and to ensure that users cannot remove or disable it, according to an order dated November 28 seen by Reuters. The move, framed as a response to rising cybercrime and phone-related fraud, is expected to trigger friction with Apple and privacy advocates who see it as a serious encroachment on user choice and device control.​

What the order mandates

The confidential order gives smartphone manufacturers 90 days to comply and covers virtually the entire market, including Apple, Samsung, Vivo, Oppo, Xiaomi and others. Key requirements include:​

• Preload Sanchar Saathi on all new smartphones sold in India, with “no option for users to delete or disable” the app.​
• For phones already in the supply chain or channel inventory, push the app via a software update so that it appears on devices already manufactured but not yet in users’ hands.​
• The directive has not been published publicly; it was circulated privately to select companies and surfaced through documents reviewed by Reuters, along with corroborating reports in Indian media.​

What Sanchar Saathi does

Sanchar Saathi is a government-run cyber safety platform and app launched earlier in 2025 to help users track, block and recover lost or stolen phones and to clamp down on fraudulent mobile connections. According to government figures cited in the order and related coverage:​

• More than 700,000 lost phones have been recovered with Sanchar Saathi’s help, including about 50,000 in October alone.​
• The system has helped block over 3.7 million lost or stolen devices and terminate more than 30 million fraudulent mobile connections by cross-checking IMEI and SIM data across a central registry.​

The app taps into a central database keyed to each phone’s IMEI (International Mobile Equipment Identity), a 14–17 digit unique hardware identifier that operators already use to cut network access for stolen devices. Through the app, users can:​

• Report a phone as lost or stolen and request that it be blocked across all telecom networks in India.
• Track the status of blocked devices and request unblocking if recovered.
• Identify suspicious or fraudulent mobile connections linked to their identity and request disconnection.​

Why the government says this is necessary

The telecom ministry argues that India faces “serious endangerment” of telecom cybersecurity from duplicate or spoofed IMEI numbers, which can be used to mask stolen devices, bypass blocks and facilitate scams. By making Sanchar Saathi effectively universal and non-removable, authorities say they can:​

• Rapidly block stolen or cloned phones at scale.
• Help police and operators trace lost devices.
• Reduce the circulation of black-market and counterfeit devices.
• Limit the use of stolen phones for banking fraud, OTP theft and impersonation.​

The policy also aligns India with a broader global trend: countries from Brazil to Russia are tightening controls on stolen phones and pushing state-backed safety or service apps. Russia, for instance, in August began requiring phones to ship with a state-backed MAX messenger pre-installed, a move that also drew privacy criticism.​

Why Apple is in the crosshairs

Apple, whose iOS powers about 4.5% of India’s roughly 735 million smartphones, is specifically named in coverage as a likely flashpoint.​

Apple’s current policy: The company pre-installs its own system and first-party apps but has an internal rule against pre-installing any third-party or government apps on iPhones before sale, according to a source with direct knowledge of its practices.​

History of clashes: Apple previously locked horns with India’s telecom regulator over building and supporting a government anti-spam app, resisting deep OS-level hooks.​

Analysts expect Apple to push back and look for a compromise. “Apple has historically refused such requests from governments,” Counterpoint Research director Tarun Pathak told Reuters, adding that the company is likely to “seek a middle ground: instead of a mandatory pre-install, they might negotiate and ask for an option to nudge users towards installing the app.”​

Apple, Google, Samsung and Xiaomi did not respond to Reuters’ requests for comment on the order, and the telecom ministry has also not publicly commented.​

Privacy and consent concerns

Civil society and legal experts have raised alarms about the directive’s implications for privacy and user agency.

Mishi Choudhary, a technology lawyer and internet rights advocate, told Reuters that the move is “cause for concern,” arguing that “the government effectively removes user consent as a meaningful choice” when an app is forced onto every new phone and cannot be removed.​

Privacy advocates also compare India’s step to Russia’s MAX pre-install requirement, warning that such policies normalise state-mandated apps and blur the line between targeted safety tools and broader digital surveillance or service promotion.​

Critics stress that while Sanchar Saathi’s current functions are clearly focused on device security and fraud prevention, baking a non-removable government app into every handset creates a precedent that future administrations could expand in ways that go beyond lost-phone tracking.

What this means for users and OEMs

For smartphone buyers in India, the order, if implemented as written, means:

• Every new smartphone, regardless of brand or platform, will ship with Sanchar Saathi permanently installed, with no official option to uninstall or disable it.​
• Phones already manufactured but not yet sold may receive the app via an over-the-air software update before or shortly after activation.​

For manufacturers and platform owners, it poses both technical and policy challenges:

• Android OEMs will likely comply by baking the app into their standard India software builds and OTA pipelines.
• Apple faces a direct conflict between its global policy and India’s mandate; any compromise will be closely watched by other governments that may seek similar treatment.​

The directive also reinforces a broader shift in regulatory expectations: in a market of over 1.2 billion subscribers, the government now expects device makers and platforms to actively participate in state-led cybersecurity and anti-fraud infrastructure, not just provide hardware and operating systems.