Indian residents are about to get a whole new kind of “native experience” where your phone digs right into system roots alongside you. The government has told smartphone manufacturers that every new smartphone sold in the country must come with a government-made cybersecurity app. The app is called Sanchar Saathi, and companies have 90 days to start preinstalling it. Companies and users may not be able to escape it.
Sanchaar Saathi will protect you from an epidemic of scams
The Indian government says Sanchar Saathi will help people check if a phone is genuine, report stolen devices, and track fraud. They claim that it's for cybersecurity and to stop criminals using fake or stolen devices. Even phones already sitting in warehouses or stores must receive the app through a software update before being sold.
To the government’s justification, India has been dealing with a serious cybercrime problem for years. It's neither abstract nor exaggerated. According to The Guardian, entire regions like Jamtara in Jharkhand, have become infamous for large-scale phone scams that target people across the country.
Many of those scams begin with a simple call claiming to be from a bank or telecom provider. The victim has no reliable way to verify the caller, and the device itself can’t detect if its IMEI has been cloned. You can easily get blamed for crimes you never committed because your phone's unique identifier appeared in illegal operations.
But the controversy surrounding the new app is coming from what it can access. According to its own permissions, it can…
• Make and manage calls.
• Send messages.
• Read call logs and SMS logs.
• Access photos, files, and the camera.
These features have raised huge privacy and surveillance concerns, and it's quite ironic. A major digital rights group in the country spoke up against it, tagging it as a government-controlled device that users cannot refuse or limit.
The government, in turn, responded to the backlash by saying the app is voluntary and users will be able to delete it. But they didn’t explain how that makes sense if the order also says the app’s functions cannot be disabled or restricted. Consent only works when a user can meaningfully agree or disagree, after all.
Resistance from Apple and others expected
The new mandate puts many companies, especially those with tightly closed ecosystems, in a particularly difficult position. Particularly Apple, who has built their devices around strict rules where third-party apps aren't pre-installed without the company’s approval.
The company’s retreat, or effectively refusing to comply, is plausible. They've historically resisted government demands that compromise device security or ecosystem integrity. They've pushed back against similar pre-installation requirements in countries like Russia until forced by law.
Yet again, full retreat isn’t a simple option either. India is one of the world’s largest smartphone markets, and even though Apple’s share is smaller than Android’s, it is a rapidly growing revenue segment for them.
Leaving the market entirely would be a dramatic move with enormous business consequences over one small app. None of the big tech companies have responded yet.
