According to TechCrunch, India’s telecom ministry has reversed a directive from last week that would have forced smartphone makers to pre-install the government’s Sanchar Saathi app on all devices and prevent its features from being disabled. The ministry stated on Wednesday, December 4, that the anti-theft and cybersecurity app will remain voluntary, citing its “increasing acceptance.” The app, launched in January 2025, has been downloaded 14 million times and reports on about 2,000 cyber-fraud incidents daily. However, as of Wednesday, manufacturers were still waiting for formal notification of the withdrawal. The controversy itself boosted the app’s profile, leading to 600,000 new registrations on December 2 alone.
A welcome, but cautious, reversal
Look, this is a clear win for digital rights advocates and common sense. The initial mandate was a massive overreach, plain and simple. Forcing a government app onto every phone and making it impossible to disable is a huge red flag for privacy. And the conflicting signals from officials—like Telecom Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia saying users could delete it while the actual directive said its functions “must not be disabled”—just made the whole thing smell worse. It felt like a clumsy attempt to sneak in a backdoor. The Internet Freedom Foundation called the reversal “welcome,” and they’re right, but their caution is the key takeaway here. They noted this isn’t “closure” until they see the official, revised legal orders published. Until then, the government could theoretically try this again with different wording.
Why the backlash was inevitable
Here’s the thing: governments everywhere are wrestling with security and fraud, and apps like Sanchar Saathi can be genuinely useful tools. But the moment you try to mandate them as a permanent fixture on personal property, you’ve crossed a line. Critics were right to warn about excessive state visibility into devices. And it wasn’t just privacy groups—manufacturers were privately questioning the feasibility and legal backing of such a rule. I mean, think about the logistics. Enforcing a system-level, un-removable app across dozens of device makers and software versions is a nightmare. It also creates a terrible precedent. What’s the next “essential” government app that gets the mandatory pre-install treatment?
The bigger picture remains unchanged
So they walked back the pre-install rule. Great. But don’t miss the forest for the trees. The broader Sanchar Saathi ecosystem is still expanding, and that’s where the more subtle, and perhaps more significant, integration is happening. As the TechCrunch report notes, recommerce and trade-in platforms are already required to validate devices through a central IMEI database linked to this system. Even more telling, the ministry is piloting an API for these firms to submit customer and device info directly to the state. That’s a massive data pipeline being built. The voluntary app on your phone is one thing; mandatory backend systems that track device lifecycles and link them to user data are another. The focus on the pre-install fight might have distracted from these deeper, mandatory integrations that are proceeding quietly.
What happens next?
The government’s official press release frames this as a gracious decision based on the app’s popularity. Minister Scindia’s post on X also emphasizes user choice. But the whole episode reveals a tension between a top-down, control-oriented approach and a more collaborative, consent-based one. The industry will breathe a sigh of relief, especially Apple, which reportedly didn’t even participate in the working group. But they, and users, should stay vigilant. The underlying Cyber Security Rules of 2024 that enabled this proposed mandate are still there. The government’s desire for more visibility and control over the digital landscape hasn’t vanished. This was a retreat, not a surrender. The next attempt might just be more cleverly designed.
