India Rolls Back Order to Preinstall Cybersecurity App on Smartphones

According to Associated Press, India’s telecoms ministry rolled back its order requiring smartphone manufacturers to preinstall the government’s Sanchar Saathi cybersecurity app on new devices. The Ministry of Communications had previously directed makers to install the app within 90 days and to prevent users from disabling it, with an additional push to update older models.

The ministry said on Wednesday that 600,000 new users had registered to download the app in the last day and that the government has decided not to make preinstallation mandatory. It described the app as secure and purely aimed at helping citizens against cyber threats, noting that users can remove it if they wish. Since its January launch, the Sanchar Saathi app has drawn at least 14 million downloads, a figure cited by government data. The article is dated 4 December 2025.