India’s telecom ministry has issued a directive requiring the government’s cyber safety application, Sanchar Saathi, to be pre-installed on every new smartphone sold in the country.

The order, dated November 28, instructs major phone manufacturers, including Apple, Samsung, Vivo, Oppo, and Xiaomi, to complete the implementation within 90 days. For devices already in distribution, companies must push the app to users via over-the-air (OTA) updates. Furthermore, the app is reported to be mandatory and non-deletable by users.

Introduced in January 2025, Sanchar Saathi helps users track, block, or recover lost and stolen devices by using a central IMEI database. The platform has reportedly helped recover over seven lakh lost devices and shut down about thirty million suspicious mobile connections.

The government claims the mandate is necessary to curb rising cases of cyber fraud. However, some experts express concern that the move restricts user choice and could allow for deeper government intervention in consumer devices. The directive is also noted to potentially cause friction with Apple, which has historically resisted pre-installation of government applications.

By: Sandhya Bharti