What is Sanchar Saathi App?

Sanchar Saathi application is a cybersecurity project by the Department of Telecommunications with the aim of protecting mobile subscribers against financial fraud, identity theft, and abuse of telecommunications services. The app allows reporting fraudulent calls and scam messages, tracking stolen devices, verifying mobile connections, and detecting suspicious financial transactions.

What is the Controversy all about?

The scandal was triggered when the Department of Telecommunications required every smartphone sold in India to pre-install Sanchar Saathi, and that its features were not allowed to be disabled or limited. Although the government presented the need as a safeguard for less digitally literacy cover, the order seems to have brought about constitutional issues.

What is the opposition saying?

The opposition parties claimed that the initiative is a possible means of state snooping. Privacy activists stated that compulsory pre-installation is against the 2017 decision made by the Supreme Court in K.S. ‛Puttaswamy v. Union of India. Legal experts argued that the requirement does not pass the proportionality test since there are less restrictive options and technology companies also protested citing privacy standards and lack of consultation.

What is the Government’s stand?

The government repealed the directive on mandatory pre-installation on December 2, 2025 after initially defending it. The government has maintained a strategic position where it still retains the powers in the Telecommunications Act, 2023 to re-examine the mandate in case voluntary adoption is not effective. The Ministry has mentioned that the growing acceptance of the application, which is demonstrated by 1.4 crore downloads, made the mandate redundant with a ten fold increase in the user base.

Policy Implications

The Sanchar Saathi episode lies at the heart of digital policymaking. The Telecommunications Act, 2023, significantly broadened the regulatory powers of the Department of Telecommunications to include smartphone manufacturers and messaging platforms, but failed to provide any corresponding procedural safeguards raising concerns. The order is administrative in nature thereby further putting a question mark on the legitimacy of the same.

The case further highlights the role of privacy as a key standard for assessing digital governance initiatives. The pre-installation violates the principle of autonomy by its definition, irrespective of the character of data collection activities leading to a future pathway where opt-out procedures and transparency could be ensured. The need for a just governing framework is realised more than ever given the fact that the majority of the technology giants are global in nature. The government further erred in ensuring mandatory stakeholder consultation before rolling out the order.

Lastly, the controversy underlines the importance of balancing digital security and digital autonomy for governance. Overall, Sanchar Saathi app controversy reflects everything what is technology policy - balancing efficiency with fairness, conducting timely stakeholder consultation and ensuring overall fairness in the law making process.

Aditya Singh who is a Research Intern at the Centre has contributed to this explainer.