Facing a political storm over its directive asking smartphone makers to preload the Sanchar Saathi app on all new devices, the government on Tuesday issued a clarification insisting that the app is optional and can be deleted by users.
The move came after the Opposition accused the Centre of attempting mass surveillance under the guise of cyber-security, forcing an unusual public turnaround within 24 hours of the order coming to light.
Union Minister for Communications Jyotiraditya Scindia said the government had no intention of making Sanchar Saathi compulsory, stressing that users remained free to uninstall it.
“If you don’t want Sanchar Saathi, you can delete it. It is optional,” Scindia told reporters outside Parliament.. He added that while the government aimed to make citizens aware of the app, “keeping it in their devices or not is up to the user”.
The clarification followed a strong political and public backlash after it emerged on Monday that the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) had formally notified smartphone manufacturers to pre-install the Sanchar Saathi app on every device made or imported for sale in India. The order also required companies to push the app to handsets already in the market through software updates.
The Opposition, led by the Congress, launched a fierce attack on the directive, calling it an assault on privacy. Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra said the government had no business inserting apps into citizens’ phones.
She criticised the directive as “ridiculous” and described Sanchar Saathi as a “snooping app”, arguing that the state must not use cyber-security as a pretext to “go into every citizen’s phone”.
“Citizens have the right to privacy… I don’t think any citizen would be happy with the government looking at everything,” she said. The Congress also demanded that the order be withdrawn immediately, with MP Renuka Chowdhury moving an adjournment motion in the Rajya Sabha for a discussion.
The DoT’s notification had instructed manufacturers to ensure Sanchar Saathi was clearly visible and fully functional when a user first set up the phone. Firms were given 90 days to comply and 120 days to submit compliance reports.
The order had raised concerns among device makers, as it required the addition of a government app across all models and operating systems. Privacy advocates and some smartphone companies also argued that pre-installed apps that cannot be deleted could set a problematic precedent.
