Technology & Science
India Mandates Sanchar Saathi Pre-Install; Apple Pushes Back
On 28 Nov 2025 New Delhi ordered every new and existing smartphone in India to carry the state-run Sanchar Saathi anti-fraud app within 90 days, but Apple privately told officials it will not comply, igniting a privacy and political firestorm.
Focusing Facts
- DoT directive requires all phones manufactured or imported after 90 days of 28 Nov 2025 to ship with Sanchar Saathi and firms must file compliance proof within 120 days.
- Reuters sources say Apple "does not plan" to preload the app and will instead relay security-privacy objections to the ministry, avoiding court action.
- Minister Scindia claims the platform has already traced 20 lakh stolen phones and disconnected 2.75 crore fraudulent connections.
Context
States have long tried to bolt government controls onto private communication tech—think the 1912 nationalisation of the Indian Telegraph system, or Russia’s August 2023 edict forcing the MAX messenger onto all handsets. The present mandate sits in that lineage yet collides with the post-2016 trend epitomised by Apple’s San Bernardino encryption fight: platform owners guard closed ecosystems to preserve global privacy branding. Structural forces are converging—India’s expanding digital-ID regime, a refurbished-phone grey market, and the state’s broad exemptions under the 2023 Data-Protection Act—toward tighter device-level oversight. Whether Delhi blinks or Apple caves, the episode signals a century-scale struggle over who controls the last inch of the network: the pocket computer each citizen carries. If the mandate stands, it normalises government firmware footprints; if it fails, it underscores the growing leverage of transnational tech firms over sovereign regulation.
Perspectives
Pro-government Indian media & BJP spokespeople
e.g., Devdiscourse, Asianet Newsable — Portrays Sanchar Saathi as a public-safety 'suraksha kawach' that helps stop cyber-fraud and can be deleted by users, accusing Congress of peddling misinformation for political gain. Minimises unanswered questions about the directive’s non-removable wording and frames critics as criminals or sore losers, reflecting incentives to defend the ruling party rather than scrutinise privacy risks.
Opposition leaders & digital-rights advocates quoted in independent/left-leaning outlets
e.g., MediaNama, The News Minute — Cast the mandate as coerced mass surveillance that violates the Supreme Court-affirmed right to privacy, likening it to Pegasus-style snooping and demanding the order’s withdrawal. Emphasises worst-case scenarios and conflates untested fears with certainties, leveraging civil-liberties rhetoric to attack the BJP and rally political support ahead of parliamentary debates.
International & tech-industry press
e.g., Macworld, YourStory’s startup beat — Focuses on Apple and Samsung pushing back because compulsory pre-loads clash with ecosystem policies and customer privacy expectations, predicting negotiations or resistance. Centers corporate autonomy and user experience over broader public-policy goals, implicitly siding with Big Tech’s closed platforms while underplaying India’s stated anti-fraud rationale.