The story so far: On Monday (December 1, 2025), the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) ordered smartphone manufacturers to pre-install the Sanchar Saathi app on their phones. The order, effective from March 2026, has faced intense pushback, with digital rights advocates speaking up against the mandate, and the Opposition charging the government with a surveillance attempt.

Sanchar Saathi was launched in 2023 as a portal where users could report suspicious phone calls. It also has other features like identifying all the phone numbers linked to a user, blocking a stolen device by providing its unique International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI), which would culminate in an order to telecom operators to bar a stolen device from their networks.

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