Now, the government's cybersecurity app 'Sanchar Sathi' will have to be installed on every new mobile phone sold in India.
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The Indian government has ordered phone manufacturers to make it mandatory to pre-install the government cybersecurity app 'Sanchar Sathi' on all new smartphones.
According to Reuters, the app will now be mandatory on every new mobile phone sold in India. In addition, the app will have to be installed in a way that users cannot remove.
India is the world's fastest-growing mobile market. The decision is expected to directly affect hundreds of manufacturers and millions of consumers in a country with more than 1.2 billion mobile users. In India, where about 160 million new smartphones are imported or manufactured annually, it has been described as a huge government move related to cybersecurity.
India's Ministry of Communications has instructed smartphone manufacturers from Apple, Samsung, Vivo, Oppo to Xiaomi to implement the decision within 90 days. Reuters reported that the 'Sanchar Sathi' app has also been asked to be installed through a system update on phones available in the market or models in warehouses.
'Sanchar Sathi' was launched in January this year. This app helps users track or block lost or stolen mobile phones. According to the government, the app has helped find more than 700,000 lost phones. In October alone, 50,000 lost phones were returned. Indian government officials have described the app as a strategic step to curb cyber fraud, IMEI misuse and other cyber abuse nationwide. When IMEI is blocked by a telecommunications company, stolen or lost phones will no longer be able to access the network.
The government has been calling it a beneficial protection measure for consumers, while critics have raised concerns that it seeks to control the limits of individual rights and user consent. Telecom analysts say the order will be particularly challenging for Apple. According to Reuters, Apple's market share in smartphones in India as of June 2025 was only 4.5 percent. But they have pointed out that the latest directive could cause problems, as Apple has traditionally adopted a policy of not requiring third-party apps to be pre-installed before selling phones.
Every new phone launched in India within 90 days will now have a 'communication companion'. This signals a shift in the digital balance of power between private companies, consumers and the government. The trend of making state-controlled apps mandatory on mobile phones is not limited to India. Russia ordered its own government messaging app to be pre-loaded on all phones in August 2025. Some other countries are also planning to implement similar strategies as cybercrime and digital fraud increase.
