The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has mandated the pre-installation of the Sanchar Saathi app on all new mobile handsets manufactured or imported for sale in India.
The directive was issued to all original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and importers on Monday.
It urged the manufacturers to ensure that the app was readily visible and accessible to the end users at the time of first use or device setup and that its functionalities are not disabled or restricted.
What is Sanchar Saathi?
• The portal, set up in May 2023, allows the reporting and blocking of mobile phones which are lost, and malicious web links.
• It further helps in knowing the number of mobile connections in a user’s name, and to check trusted contact details of banks and financial institutions.
• According to an earlier HT report, a DoT official said the app will make fraud reporting easier. “Right now, reporting time varies because users have to go to the website to report fraud or stolen mobile phones,” the official added.
• On reporting fraud through the app, the official said the portal is “advanced enough” and users do not need to remember their IMEI number.
{{/usCountry}}• On reporting fraud through the app, the official said the portal is “advanced enough” and users do not need to remember their IMEI number.
{{/usCountry}}• The app will also provide other services, like checking mobile connections issued in a user’s name verifying whether a handset is genuine, and reporting suspicious communication or spam.
• The app can also help users report an international call with an Indian number. It does not require OTP verification on the phone.
• Under the initiative, more than 42.14 lakh mobiles have been blocked and over 26.11 lakh lost or stolen mobile handsets have been traced, according to the Sanchar Saathi website.
• Over 288 lakh requests have been received from persons wanting to get information regarding mobile connections registered in their name. Of these, over 254 lakh requests have been resolved.
• The app has had more than 1.14 crore registrations, with more than 1 crore downloads from Google Playstore, and more than 9.5 lakh downloads from Apple Store.
App will help ‘safeguard’ citizens from fraud, says DoT
For the devices which have already been manufactured and are in sales channels in the country, the government has asked manufacturers and importers to push the Sanchar Saathi app through software updates.
The step has been taken to “safeguard the citizens from buying the non-genuine handsets, enabling easy reporting of suspected misuse of telecom resources and to increase effectiveness of the Sanchar Saathi initiative”, the DoT said.
OEMs including Apple, Oppo, Vivo, Xiaomi and Samsung will have 90 days to comply with the requirement, according to an earlier HT report. The compliance report for the same will be submitted in 120 days.