Government removes mandatory pre-installation of Sanchar Saathi app on mobile phones

New Delhi: The Ministry of Communications on Thursday removed the mandatory pre-installation of Sanchar Saathi app on mobile handsets imported or manufactured in India, days after proposing to mandate it.

The government has decided not to make the pre- installation mandatory for mobile manufacturers, citing Sanchar Saathi’s increasing acceptance in India.

The Ministry said in a statement that the government had with an intent to provide access to cyber security to all citizens had mandated pre-installation of Sanchar Saathi app on all smartphones.

The government maintains that the app is secure and purely meant to help citizens from bad actors in the cyber world.

“It helps in ” Jan bhagidari” by all citizens in reporting on such bad actors and actions while protecting users themselves. There is no other function other than protecting the users in the app and they can remove the app whenever they want. This has been clarified by Government,” the Ministry said.

So far 1.4 crore users have downloaded this app and are contributing to information on 2000 fraud incidents per day, the ministry asserted.

The number of users has been increasing rapidly and the mandate to install the app was meant to accelerate this process and make the app available to less aware citizens easily.

“Just in last one day, 6 lakh citizens have registered for downloading the App which is a 10x increase in its uptake. This is affirmation of faith by citizens on this App for protecting themselves provided to them by the Government,” the ministry added.

Earlier, Union Minister for Telecommunications Jyotiraditya Scindia reiterated that the Sanchar Saathi application can be deleted from mobile phones and will not be operational until the user registers on it.Addressing the Lok Sabha, Scindia refuted speculation about snooping.

Replying to a question by Congress MP Deepender Singh Hooda in Lok Sabha, the Union Minister said, “I want to keep all the facts in front of the nation. We have one billion (mobile) users, but there are elements who use it in a negative manner. It is the government’s duty to keep the citizens safe. Sanchar Saathi portal was started in 2023 with this mind, and the app was brought in 2025. We decided to give a choice to all the citizens. If the app is on your phone, it does not mean it will operate automatically. Till the user registers in the app, it will not operate.”