After major backlash from opposition and civil society, the Minister of Telecommunication defended the government’s move to pre-install the Sanchar Saathi apps in phones made for India or imported to India from 2026 onwards. The minister said that the users will have the option to delete the app.
Talking to the media outside the parliament building, he said that the users can choose to keep the app or delete it, or not activate it. He also stated that the government was not trying to “snoop” or monitor the calls of the user, as alleged by many, as soon as the order was made public. The government order came out on 28 November, creating debates around surveillance and users’ privacy.
Civil society openly criticised the move, while some private companies have started expressing concerns, and, as per reports, have decided to flag their concerns to the government. Scindia said that the digital security of the country and its citizens was the priority of the government. He further stated that the app was voluntary, and the government was only trying to enhance cybersecurity in the country. He also reiterated that the users are free to use or delete the app.
An earlier order stated that the private companies were not allowed to disable or restrict the app. Users questioned the reasoning of deletion when disabling is not possible, as per the official order. Scindia has not said anything about this issue, and nothing has been published publicly as of now.
However, a senior official of the Indian government clarified that the meaning of “disable” was to ensure that companies do not hide or pre-install the non-functional version of the app. The official also confirmed that the clause does not state that deletion is not possible. The Sanchar Saathi app is currently available for download on both the Apple App Store and Google Play Store.
It is one of India’s digital tools and has been active in tracing fraud. The app has been voluntarily downloaded by several citizens, but the recent move almost showed a skewed and desperate move by the government, creating chaos and panic.
