Sanchar Saathi mandate revoked

The Union Government on Wednesday withdrew its mandate to manufacturers and importers on pre-installing the Sanchar Saathi app on all smartphones. The move comes after the order was widely criticised for infringing on privacy.

“Given Sanchar Saathi’s increasing acceptance, the Government has decided not to make the pre-installation mandatory for mobile manufacturers,” the Ministry of Communication, parent ministry for the Department of Telecom (DoT), said in a statement. “Just in the last one day, 6 lakh citizens have registered for downloading the app, which is a 10x increase in its uptake. Given Sanchar Saathi’s increasing acceptance, the Government has decided not to make the pre-installation mandatory for mobile manufacturers,” the DoT statement read.

However, earlier in the day, after Union Minister for Communications Jyotiraditya Scindia defended the order mandating the app in the Parliament. “Snooping is neither possible, nor will it ever be. Sanchar Saathi app se na snooping sambhav hai, no snooping hoga”, he said responding to a question on snooping concerns by Congress leader Deepender Singh Hooda.

The Government defended the app in its statement, insisting it is “secure and purely meant to help citizens from bad actors in the cyber world” with no other function beyond user protection.

“The number of users has been increasing rapidly, and the mandate to install the app was meant to accelerate this process and make the app available to less aware citizens easily,” officials said.

Addressing a press conference, Congress leader Pawan Kheda had accused the BJP-led Government of “brazenly snooping” on citizens and giving a deceptive clarification when caught “red-handed.

“Their Communications Minister confidently claimed that the Sanchar Saathi app can be deleted, a statement that collapses instantly under the weight of the Government’s own direction, where Section 7(b) categorically states that the pre-installed app cannot be removed, nor can any of its ‘functionalities be disabled or restricted’,” Khera said at a press conference.

According to the Government, the Sanchar Saathi app was conceived as a citizen-centric cybersecurity tool aimed at protecting users from online fraud and other malicious activities.

It stressed that the app is secure, has no functions beyond safeguarding users, and can be removed by them at any time.