India's government has issued a private directive to major smartphone manufacturers, including Apple and Samsung, requiring them to preinstall a state-owned cybersecurity application on all new devices sold in the country. The app, which users will be unable to delete, is intended to combat fraud but has sparked immediate concern among privacy advocates and tech giants.
Government Order Demands Mandatory Installation
According to an order dated 28 November, India's telecoms ministry has given smartphone companies a 90-day deadline to ensure the 'Sanchar Saathi' app comes pre-installed on every new mobile phone. The directive, sent privately to select firms and not made public, also states that the software must be non-disableable by the end-user.
For devices already in the supply chain, manufacturers are instructed to push the app via over-the-air software updates. The move targets a market of over 1.2 billion telecom subscribers, one of the world's largest.
Privacy Concerns and Industry Pushback
The mandate is likely to put the government on a collision course with Apple, which has historically resisted such requests. A source with direct knowledge stated that Apple's internal policy prohibits the pre-installation of any government or third-party app before a smartphone is sold. "Apple has historically refused such requests from governments," confirmed Tarun Pathak, a research director at Counterpoint.
Privacy experts have voiced strong objections. "The government effectively removes user consent as a meaningful choice," said technology lawyer Mishi Choudhary, who works on internet advocacy. The requirement draws parallels with a similar, controversial move by Russia in August, which mandated the preloading of a state-backed messenger app called 'Max'.
Rationale and App Functionality
The Indian government justifies the measure as essential to tackle a surge in cybercrime and the "serious endangerment" posed by duplicate or spoofed IMEI numbers. The 14- to 17-digit IMEI is a unique handset identifier used to block stolen phones from networks.
The Sanchar Saathi app, launched in January, is designed as a centralised tool to help users block and track lost or stolen smartphones across all telecom networks. Government data claims it has already aided in recovering more than 700,000 lost phones, including 50,000 in October alone. It has also been used to terminate over 30 million fraudulent mobile connections.
Other companies bound by the order include Vivo, Oppo, and Xiaomi. By mid-2025, Apple's iOS powered an estimated 4.5% of India's 735 million smartphones, with Android dominating the rest. As of the report, Apple, Google, Samsung, Xiaomi, and India's telecoms ministry had not responded to requests for comment.
