Defending the app as a critical cybersecurity tool, Scindia said Sanchar Saathi has over 20 crore downloads on the portal and 1.5 crore downloads of the app, and has played a key role in curbing telecom fraud. \u201cSanchar Saathi has enabled the disconnection of nearly 1.75 crore fraudulent mobile connections. Around 20 lakh stolen phones have been traced and 7.5 lakh returned to their owners , all because of Sanchar Saathi,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
According to the DoT, the move aims to protect consumers from counterfeit devices, simplify reporting of telecom misuse, and strengthen the broader Sanchar Saathi initiative. The platform, which uses IMEI-linked verification, allows users to check the authenticity of handsets, report suspected fraud, locate lost or stolen phones, monitor mobile connections issued in their name, and help financial institutions verify trusted devices.<\/p>\n
Government data shows that since its launch in January, the Sanchar Saathi app has helped recover over 7 lakh lost phones, including 50,000 in October alone.<\/p>\n
Major handset makers including Apple, Samsung, Google, Vivo, Oppo, and Xiaomi manufacture phones in India and will be required to comply with the order.<\/p>\n
Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Tuesday criticised the Centre\u2019s move to mandate pre-installation of the Sanchar Saathi app on mobile phones, describing it as a \u201csnooping app\u201d and accusing the government of undermining citizens\u2019 privacy.<\/p>\n
Flaying the move, Congress general secretary Randeep Surjewala said, “India has now become a ‘surveillance state’.<\/p>\n
“Is it Official Pegasus or akin to REDFLAG App of North Korea on every Cellphone? India is now a ‘Surveillance State’? India will now be a ‘Police State’? Right to Privacy & Personal Space are now officially dead,” Surjeala said in a post on X.<\/p>\n
Earlier Congress MP Renuka Chowdhury filed an adjournment motion notice in the Rajya Sabha seeking suspension of business to discuss the government’s directions on installation of the Sanchar Saathi App.<\/p>\n
Congress general secretary K C Venugopal had said on Monday that the right to privacy is an intrinsic part of the fundamental right to life and liberty.<\/p>\n
“Big Brother cannot watch us. This DoT direction is beyond unconstitutional. The Right to Privacy is an intrinsic part of the fundamental right to life and liberty, enshrined in Article 21 of the Constitution.<\/p>\n
“A pre-loaded government app that cannot be uninstalled is a dystopian tool to monitor every Indian. It is a means to watch over every movement, interaction and decision of each citizen,” Venugopal had said in a post on X.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Defending the app as a critical cybersecurity tool, Scindia said Sanchar Saathi has over 20 crore downloads on…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":163819,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[85,46,98170,321,98067,125],"class_list":{"0":"post-163818","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mobile","8":"tag-il","9":"tag-israel","10":"tag-jyotiraditya-scindia","11":"tag-mobile","12":"tag-sanchar-saathi","13":"tag-technology"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/163818","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=163818"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/163818\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/163819"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=163818"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=163818"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=163818"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}