The mandate in the form of an order by the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) directing all smartphone manufacturers, whether the devices are made in India or imported, to pre-install the Sanchar Saathi cybersecurity app with no removal option is under fire, for critics see it as the BJP government’s surveillance system on citizens similar to Israel’s Pegasus, in violation of people’s privacy and freedom.
The directive, which gives manufacturers 90 days to ensure the undeletable app is pre-loaded on every new device and subsequently pushed to existing phones through software updates, has set off a wide public backlash and triggered political and civil society resistance.
Political commentators and civil liberties advocates have expressed alarm over what they regard as state overreach, and the criticism has been amplified by the perception that such an undeletable app fundamentally alters the user’s control over their device.
General Secretary K.C. Venugopal labelled the directive unconstitutional, arguing that it undermines the fundamental right to privacy under Article 21, which has already been affirmed by the Supreme Court, and he also alleged that the government has established a recurring pattern of digital intrusion under the guise of public safety.
Political analyst Tehseen Poonawalla lashed out at the directive, urging citizens to raise their voice against what he described as a measure that could ultimately force everyone to compromise their privacy, and he asserted, “We will defeat the Govt move to order phone manufacturers to pre-install the undeletable Sanchar Saathi on all new phones sold in India & to push it on existing phones via updates. We will defeat this order constitutionally & democratically! Jai Hind Jai Bharat Jai Constitution!”, while deepening his warning by adding, “Outrageous! Wake up INDIA! The Govt's Sanchar Saathi app mandate is a blatant assault on our privacy & freedom!”, he wrote on the X platform.
Calling the move intrusive, reality-show-style monitoring, Shiv Sena (UBT) Rajya Sabha MP Priyanka Chaturvedi said it was “another BIG BOSS surveillance moment,” and she cautioned that covert attempts to access private devices would inevitably face resistance.
Meanwhile, social media is abuzz with comparisons to Pegasus spyware, which, as reported in a joint investigation by a consortium of international media, had been used by the Indian government to spy on political rivals.
Technology journalist Arvind Gunasekar asked, “Unrestricted access to our phones?!”, arguing that the mandate creates a permanent surveillance gateway, since the app requires access to call logs, SMS details, camera functions, file storage, and device identifiers, and critics contend that meaningful transparency is absent due to the lack of independent oversight or third-party auditing.
The government, however, has defended the initiative by highlighting Sanchar Saathi’s track record in combating cyber fraud, reporting that the platform has helped recover large numbers of stolen devices and block millions of fraudulent mobile connections, and officials maintain that the directive strengthens national security by integrating tools such as the Central Equipment Identity Register for device verification and blocking.