Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Tuesday criticised the Department of Telecommunications (DoT)'s decision to mandate pre-installation of the Sanchar Saathi App on all new mobile phones, calling it a violation of privacy and a step toward authoritarian governance.
This comes as the DoT has issued a directive requiring all mobile importers and manufacturers to ensure that the app is pre-installed on new handsets within 90 days. The Sanchar Saathi platform is intended to help users report mobile fraud, block lost devices, and verify SIM records.
However, the directive has triggered debate over privacy and surveillance concerns among citizens. Reacting to the move, Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi told reporters, “It’s a snooping app. It’s ridiculous. Citizens have the right to privacy. This isn’t just about snooping on telephones overall, they are turning this country into a dictatorship in every possible form.”
She also accused the government of suppressing democratic processes. "You’re asking why Parliament isn’t functioning. It’s because they aren’t letting it function. It’s very easy to blame the Opposition, but they are stopping healthy discussions. That is not democracy.
For democracy to survive, open discussion must be allowed,” she said. Raising further concerns, she added, “There is a fine line between making fraud reporting easier and monitoring everything citizens do on their phones. Yes, cyber security is necessary, but that doesn’t justify invading every citizen’s device.”
Other Congress leaders echoed her criticism. MP Imran Masood questioned the government's intentions, saying, “Where are you taking the country? Are we heading toward North Korea? Will the government decide how people live, eat, or even cut their hair? This is an intrusion into people’s private lives.”
Congress spokesperson Surendra Rajput demanded transparency. “If the government wants to make the Sanchar Saathi app compulsory, it must first explain its purpose, benefits, and limitations. Will it act like spyware? Does it track citizens? Until there is clarity, the government cannot impose the app through force,” he said.
On Monday, to safeguard the citizens from buying non-genuine items, the Centre said that it asked mobile phone manufacturers and importers to ensure that the 'Sanchar Saathi' mobile application is pre-installed on all new mobile handsets manufactured or imported for use in India.
This will enable easy reporting of suspected misuse of telecom resources and increase the effectiveness of the 'Sanchar Saathi' initiative. As per the guidelines, issued on November 28, mobile manufacturers and importers have to ensure that the pre-installed Sanchar Saathi application is 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.
Additionally, all such devices that have already been manufactured and are in sales channels in India, the manufacturer and importers of mobile handsets shall endeavour to push the app through software updates. The companies have to complete the implementation in 90 days and submit a report in 120 days.
DoT is undertaking the Sanchar Saathi initiative for curbing the misuse of telecom resources for cyber fraud and ensuring telecom cybersecurity. The department has developed the Sanchar Saathi portal and app, which enables citizens to check the genuineness of a mobile handset through the IMEI number, along with other facilities like reporting suspected fraudulent communications, lost or stolen mobile handsets, checking mobile connections in their name, and trusted contact details of banks and financial institutions.
In a separate statement, the DoT said that it has observed that some of the app-based communication services that are utilising Indian mobile numbers for identification of their customers or users or for provisioning or delivery of services, allow users to consume their services without the availability of the underlying Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) within the device in which the app-based services are running.
This feature is being misused to commit cyber-frauds, especially from operating outside the country. The issue of SIM binding in messaging apps and its misuse has been raised by multiple government bodies/agencies and an inter-ministerial group.
On this issue, DOT had multiple discussions with major app-based communication services providers on the feasibility and importance. These include WhatsApp, Telegram, Snapchat, Arattai, Sharechat, Josh, Jiochat, and Signal.