Smartphone makers reportedly asked to preload security app

India is one of the world’s largest telephone markets, with over 1.2 billion subscribers, and government figures show the app has helped recover more than 700,000 lost phones, including 50,000 in October alone

India’s telecoms ministry has privately asked smartphone makers to preload all new devices with a state-owned cyber security app that cannot be deleted, a government order showed.

India is one of the world’s largest telephone markets, with over 1.2 billion subscribers, and government figures show the app, launched in January, has helped recover more than 700,000 lost phones, including 50,000 in October alone.

Xiaomi, Oppo, Samsung, Vivo and Apple are among the companies bound by the new order.

The November 28 order, reported by Reuters, gives major smartphone companies 90 days to ensure that the government’s Sanchar Saathi app is pre-installed on new mobile phones, with a provision that users cannot disable it.

bFor devices already in the supply chain, manufacturers should push the app to phones via software updates, the ministry said in its order, which was not made public and was sent privately to select companies.

The government said the app was essential to combat “serious endangerment” of telecom cyber security from duplicate or spoofed IMEI numbers, which enable scams and network misuse.

A 14- to 17-digit number unique to each handset, the IMEI, or International Mobile Equipment Identity, is most commonly used to cut off network access for phones reported to have been stolen.

The app has crossed 5 million downloads, helping block more than 3.7 million stolen or lost phones and terminate over 30 million fake connections.

The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has instructed OTT communication apps to ensure their platforms remain continuously linked to the SIM card used during account creation.

The government app allows users to report suspicious calls, verify IMEIs and block stolen devices through a central registry.