Govt mandates Sanchar Saathi App on all phones manufactured, imported in India in next three months; here is all you need to know

The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has mandated pre-installation of Sanchar Saathi application on all mobile handsets manufactured or imported for use in India. 

The department, which issued directions for the same on October 28, 2025, under the provisions of Telecom Cyber Security (TCS), has given a 90-day period for implementation, and a 120-day period for submitting a report regarding the same.

The DoT calls it an attempt aimed at safeguarding “citizens from using non-genuine handsets, enabling easy reporting of suspected misuse of telecom resources and to increase effectiveness of the Sanchar Saathi initiative”.

According to the Ministry of Communications’ release dated December 1, 2025, manufacturers and importers have been asked to ensure that the Sanchar Saathi mobile application is pre-installed on all mobile handsets manufactured or imported for use in India. It has also directed that the pre-installed Sanchar Saathi application must be readily visible and accessible to the end users at the time of first use or device setup and that its functionalities are not disabled or restricted.

“For all such devices that have been already been manufactured and are in sales channels in India, the manufacturer and importers of mobile handsets shall make an endeavour to push the App through software updates,” the release added.

Major mobile manufacturers and importers are yet to comment publicly on this new directive.

Earlier this year, the government had called in executives from Apple and Google, and other smartphone makers urging them to make the Gov.in AppStore available in their marketplaces. 

Gov.in AppStore is a citizen engagement platform for government and public service applications. During the deliberations, the government said it would like the state-backed app suite to be installed on mobile devices before sale, and available for download from third parties without warnings like “untrusted source”.

While both these government directives to smartphone manufacturers are not directly related, it shows that the government is pro-actively trying to make citizens aware of its own initiatives as well as ensuring cybersecurity during an age where cyber crimes peak.

According to the TCS rules, the union government can issue directions to manufacturers of smartphone equipment bearing International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI) number to provide assistance as required in relation to tampered telecommunication equipment or IMEI number. The rules also mandate that such manufacturers or importers shall ensure compliance with the directions that may be issued by the union government from time to time.

Sanchar Saathi was launched as a web portal in May 2023 by the then Minister of Communications Ashwini Vaishnaw to identify online money/banking frauds, forged KYC and such scams happening in the digital era.

The Sanchar Saathi app was released in January 2025, and to date the app has achieved over 1 crore downloads on Android, and nearly 10 lakh on iOS, according to publicly available data. The app allows tracking and blocking of lost or stolen phones anywhere in India using the IMEI number. According to a September 2025, press release by the government, over 37 lakh stolen or lost mobile phones have been blocked using the app, and more than 22 lakh devices have been successfully traced.