India asks Smartphone Makers to Preload Phones with Govt App: Report

In a big development, the government of India has asked the smartphone makers to preload their phones with state-owned cyber security app. India is one of the major smartphone markets when it comes to scale. The government of India launched Sanchar Saathi recently. This is a platform meant to help users report and recover their stolen smartphones via the help of police and government resources. More than 50,000 phones were recovered with the help of the platform in October alone.

• Make Telecom Talk My Trusted Source
• 
• 

Read More – WhatsApp and More to be Affected in India by this New Rule

The DoT directive, first seen by Reuters, released on November 28, 2025. As per the directive, the companies have a total time of 90 days or three months to implement this. Sanchar Saathi is truly a helpful app and a platform, but this directive won’t be welcomed by the mobile phone makers. The new devices must have this app in the phone, pre-installed. The users will definitely have the option to uninstall it.

The report mentioned that the companies have been directed to push the app via an OTT (over-the-top) update for phones which are already in the supply chain. Apple’s take on the matter will be interesting. The company doesn’t allow for pre-installation of any government app or a third-party app.