India Orders Phone Makers to Pre-Install Sanchar Saathi App to Tackle Telecom Fraud

The Indian government just ordered all phone manufacturers to pre-install the Sanchar Saathi app on every new device sold in the country. And here's the kicker: you can't delete it. This is their nuclear option against telecom fraud that's been running wild.

The app is designed to combat spoofed IMEIs (International Mobile Equipment Identity), which scammers use to clone phones and run illegal telecom operations. Think of it as a digital fingerprint scanner for your device—it verifies the IMEI against a central database to flag fakes.

This isn't just about stopping annoying spam calls. We're talking about a full-spectrum crackdown on fraud rings that use cloned devices to bypass network security, commit financial scams, and even engage in surveillance. The government's basically saying: if your phone's IMEI doesn't check out, you're getting locked out.

The mandate applies to all manufacturers—from Apple and Samsung to Xiaomi and every other brand selling in India. They have to bake this app into the system software, making it as permanent as your device's bootloader. No sideloading, no workarounds.

Privacy advocates are already side-eyeing this move, calling it a surveillance overreach. But the government's counter-argument is brutal: telecom fraud costs billions annually, and spoofed IMEIs are the engine behind most of it. This is their kill switch.

The rollout is immediate. If you're buying a new phone in India today, Sanchar Saathi comes pre-loaded. And if you're a manufacturer not complying? Let's just say the Indian market is kinda huge to lose over one app.