The Indian government this week ordered phone manufacturers to make it mandatory to pre-install the government app 'Sanchar Saathi' on all new smartphones.

The government has backed down after strong opposition to the app's attempt to monitor users. Canceling the decision to make it mandatory to install 'Sanchar Sathi' within 90 days on new and existing phones, Communications Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia has responded that it is not mandatory but voluntary. 

In Nepal, the Telecommunication Authority has been trying to implement the Mobile Device Management System (MDMS) since 2075 BS to make the import, registration, and use of mobile phones systematic and secure. However, the system has been abandoned and inactive due to corruption in the equipment procurement process and the technology was deemed to be very old by the time it was implemented. With two former chairmen of the authority, including high-ranking officials, being found guilty of corruption, the authority's leadership has been silent about the current status of the system. 

With the mandatory implementation of tracking systems like MDMS and Terramax in Nepal, questions have been raised about privacy, consumer rights, and state surveillance efforts, as is the case in India. 

India has been facing a major challenge in the area of ​​duplicating or spoofing mobile phones through the Sanchar Saathi app, which was launched in 2023, and the government claims that it needs to be reduced. Last week, the Department of Telecommunications issued a notice stating that users will be logged out of WhatsApp and other messaging platforms every 6 hours. The app helps users track or block lost or stolen mobile phones. According to the government, more than 700,000 lost mobile phones have been found using the Launchyata app. In October alone, 50,000 lost mobile phones were returned.

Indian government officials have called the app a strategic step to control cyber fraud, IMEI misuse and other cyber abuse nationwide. It is said that when IMEI is blocked through Sanchar Saathi, stolen or lost mobile phones will no longer have access to the network.

In Nepal, the Telecommunications Authority has repeatedly announced that it will implement MDMS since 2075 BS, but it has never been fully implemented. Instead, the huge investment in equipment procurement has turned into water in the sand. Two years ago, the NEA sent an SMS to every user's mobile phone simultaneously, saying that phones not registered with MDMS would not work. Users had thronged the NEA's office in Jamal for months to understand this and register. 

The NEA had to set up a separate unit to provide information about this. Still, there is a dilemma as to whether Nepalis coming from abroad and new phones gifted from abroad should be registered with MDMS. But the NEA has not given any formal information or any information about the latest situation. In 2081 BS, a special court had found foreign vendor companies, including two former chairmen of the NEA, guilty of irregularities in the MDMS procurement process. NEA officials say that there is uncertainty about how to move the system forward until the full text of the case is available. He says that the NEA is continuing to register phones brought personally and smartphones imported by importers through the old web portal instead of the full-fledged MDMS.