India Orders Mandatory Pre-Installation of State Cybersecurity App on New Smartphones

India Orders Mandatory Pre-Installation of State Cybersecurity App on New Smartphones
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India’s telecommunications ministry has directed major smartphone manufacturers to pre-install a government-developed cybersecurity application on all new devices, Reuters reported. According to a confidential 28 November order, companies including Apple, Samsung, Vivo, Oppo and Xiaomi must ensure that the Sanchar Saathi app is loaded onto new handsets within 90 days and cannot be removed by users.

The order also instructs manufacturers to add the app to devices already in the supply chain through software updates. The directive comes amid a rise in cybercrime and phone-related fraud, with Indian authorities citing global precedents, including recent requirements in Russia, to justify tighter controls.

Sanchar Saathi, launched in January, is used to block and trace lost or stolen devices via IMEI numbers and has reportedly helped recover more than 700,000 phones and identify millions of fraudulent mobile connections. Privacy advocates, however, warned that mandatory installation erodes user autonomy. Technology lawyer Mishi Choudhary said the measure effectively eliminates meaningful consent.

Russia faced similar criticism when it required pre-installation of a state-backed messaging app earlier this year. The new rule may create friction with Apple, whose internal policies prohibit pre-installing any non-Apple apps on its devices before sale. Analysts expect the company to seek a compromise, such as encouraging users to download the app rather than embedding it by default.

Apple, Google, Samsung, Xiaomi and India’s telecom ministry did not comment. India, one of the world’s largest mobile markets with more than 1.2 billion subscribers, says the app is essential to prevent device theft, curb cyber threats and remove counterfeit or fraudulent connections from telecom networks.