Govt revokes order for pre-installation of Sanchar Saathi app

• The government withdrew its directive requiring smartphone makers to pre-install Sanchar Saathi app on all new devices

• This policy shift, announced by the Ministry of Communications, follows protests from opposition parties and privacy advocates who felt the app could listen to calls as well as read messages. 

• In the November 28 order, his ministry directed smartphone makers to pre-install the app on all new devices and push it through updates on older ones.

• It had mentioned that the pre-installed app should be “readily visible and accessible” and “functionalities are not disabled or restricted”.

Sanchar Saathi app

• The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has developed Sanchar Saathi portal and app which enables citizens to check genuineness of a mobile handset through the International Mobile Equipment Identity  (IMEI) number along with other facilities like reporting suspected fraud communications, lost/stolen mobile handsets, check mobile connections in their name, trusted contact details of banks/ financial institutions.

• The app enables users to report IMEI-related suspicious misuse and also to verify authenticity of IMEIs used in mobile devices.

• Tampering with telecom identifiers, including the 15-digit IMEI number of mobile phones, are non-bailable offences and can lead to imprisonment of up to three years, fines up to Rs 50 lakh, or both under the Telecommunications Act 2023.

• The blocked/blacklisted IMEIs can be checked using the Sanchar Saathi app.

• The Sanchar Saathi app, which the government says only helps track and block stolen phones and prevents them from being misused, will, however, continue to be available on app stores for voluntary downloads.

• According to the Ministry of Communications, so far 1.4 crore users have downloaded this app and are contributing to information on 2,000 fraud incidents per day. 

• With the portal and the app, 26 lakh stolen handsets have been traced, 7 lakh stolen handsets have been returned to consumers, 41 lakh mobile connections have been disconnected and 6 lakh frauds have been blocked.

(The author is a trainer for Civil Services aspirants.)