India has backed away from its plan to force smartphone makers to pre-install a government app on all devices, following a backlash and growing concerns that the order would expand government access to users' devices and weaken privacy protections.
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On Wednesday, India's telecom ministry announced that Sanchar Saathi, an anti-theft and cybersecurity app, will remain optional and that smartphone manufacturers will no longer be required to pre-load it on the devices they sell.
The new announcement effectively reverses a directive issued to manufacturers last week that had ordered them to embed the app on all devices and prevent its features from being disabled. News of the order sparked intense concerns about privacy and state overreach.
However, the government has yet to issue an official notice to smartphone manufacturers reflecting the recall, and manufacturers are still awaiting official instructions, according to two manufacturer sources involved in the process.
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Since its launch in January 2025, Sanchar Saathi has been downloaded 14 million times and helps provide information on about 2,000 cyber fraud incidents a day, according to the Indian government. The recent controversy has increased interest in the platform, and the ministry noted that about 600,000 citizens registered to download the app on December 2 alone.
The telecom ministry's notification followed widespread confusion over whether the app was truly optional, as the government had claimed. Telecom minister Jyotiraditya Scindia had insisted earlier this week that users could delete Sanchar Saathi at any time, even though the directive circulating among manufacturers said that the app's features "should not be disabled or restricted."
The conflicting messages have fueled criticism that the government is trying to downplay the scope of its mandate. Critics have warned that mandating the installation of a government app on every smartphone and preventing its features from being disabled would give authorities too much visibility into users' devices.
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The directive had also raised concerns in the industry, with manufacturers privately questioning the feasibility of imposing a permanent system-wide enforcement without clear legal backing. The Internet Freedom Foundation, a New Delhi-based digital rights group, called the reversal a “welcome development” but warned of caution, noting that it was still awaiting the legal mandate that would have to accompany the announcement.
