New Delhi | December 3, 2025: In a swift reversal, the Union Telecom Ministry has withdrawn its contentious directive that would have required every new smartphone sold in India to come pre-installed with the government’s Sanchar Saathi app and, in effect, prevent users from deleting it.
The original order, issued discreetly on November 28 and leaked over the weekend, had instructed major manufacturers including Apple, Samsung, Xiaomi, and Vivo to integrate the app at the system level from March 2026. The move would have placed the app front and centre during device setup, with key features that users could not disable.
The backlash was immediate.
Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra labelled the app a “digital spying tool”, likening it to the Pegasus controversy. Digital rights groups called the mandate unprecedented for a democratic country, arguing it threatened user privacy by offering the app deeper system access than other third-party applications. Apple, sources said, strongly objected to the requirement in closed-door meetings.
By Monday, #UninstallSancharSaathi was trending nationwide, while the app ironically saw a spike in downloads from users eager to inspect what it contained.
On Tuesday, Telecom Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia attempted to calm the storm, insisting the app had never been conceived as a surveillance instrument and was intended solely to help users block stolen devices, detect SIM cards fraudulently registered in their name, and report scam calls.
But by Wednesday morning, the government had backed down fully. The Department of Telecommunications issued a brief statement announcing that the pre-installation mandate had been scrapped, citing “overwhelming voluntary adoption” of the app.
Sanchar Saathi now remains where it always was: freely available on the Google Play Store and Apple App Store. Users who want access to features such as CEIR phone-blocking or the Chakshu fraud-reporting system can install it and those who don’t can simply ignore or delete it.
The episode marks a rare 48-hour U-turn by the Centre. For smartphone manufacturers and privacy advocates, it is being viewed as a significant pushback against regulatory overreach. Whether the controversy ultimately builds or erodes public faith in the Sanchar Saathi app, however, is a question that will unfold in the days ahead.
