The government of India had earlier mandated the pre-installation of the ‘Sanchar Saathi’ app on all smartphones with the intent of providing wider access to cybersecurity tools. The app is designed to help users safeguard themselves from fraud and other cyber risks.
Further, it enables citizens to report suspicious activities and contributes to strengthening user protection. The government has clarified that the app has no functions beyond user safety, and users can remove it at any time. So far, 14 million users have downloaded the app, contributing information on around 2,000 fraud incidents per day. The number of users has been increasing rapidly.
The mandate was aimed at accelerating adoption and making the app more easily accessible to less-aware citizens. In the past one day alone, 0.6 million additional users registered to download the app, marking a tenfold increase in uptake.
However, given the rising adoption of Sanchar Saathi, the government has decided not to make pre-installation mandatory for mobile manufacturers.
