Sanchar Saathi app optional, can be deleted, says Telecom Minister Scindia

Communications Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia defended the Department of Telecommunications (DoT)’s directions to phone makers to mandatorily pre-install the Sanchar Saathi app on devices sold from March 2026 onwards. “There is no snooping or call monitoring,” Mr. Scindia said on Tuesday in remarks outside Parliament. “If you don’t want the app, don’t activate it. If you do want it on your phone, keep it. If you want to delete it, delete it.”

“The way your phone has many pre-installed apps like Google Maps— you can delete Google Maps if you don’t want it, so you can delete this also,” Mr. Scindia said. “Obviously you can delete it. There is no problem. This is a matter of customer protection. It is not mandatory. If you don’t want to register, and don’t want to use the app, don’t use it; don’t register, and it will lay dormant.” 

Google’s pre-installed apps on many phone brands cannot be uninstalled; they can, however, be disabled. Apps bundled in with a phone may also enjoy elevated permissions access by default, even if the variant distributed on application marketplaces like Google Play and Apple’s App Store seek individual permissions on an ad hoc basis.

Mr. Scindia added that to protect people from stolen devices, it was the government’s “responsibility” to have the app distributed to all users. “If you don’t register, it will stay inactive.”

“In one year, in 2024 alone, our country had ₹22,800 crore of frauds,” Mr. Scindia said. “On one hand, the Opposition complains about increasing fraud. On the other, when we give the Sanchar Saathi to the common citizens, they cry Pegasus,” Mr. Scindia said, referring to the Israeli-developed spyware acquired by the Intelligence Bureau, and allegedly used on Opposition leaders, activists and journalists in India.

“Those who don’t want to see the truth cannot be shown the truth,” Mr. Scindia said.