Centre Defends Mandatory Sanchar Saathi App on New Smartphones Amid Surveillance Concerns

The Union government has defended its directive requiring all new mobile handsets to come pre-installed with the Sanchar Saathi application, asserting that the measure is critical to combating duplicate and spoofed IMEI numbers—an issue officials describe as a “serious national security risk.”

According to senior government sources, India’s rapidly expanding second-hand smartphone market and the ease with which stolen or blacklisted devices can be resold have made it increasingly difficult for investigative agencies to track phones used in terrorism-related activities or cybercrime. Officials noted that tampered or cloned IMEI numbers often allow the same device to appear at multiple locations on telecom networks, complicating efforts to identify suspects. Spoofed IMEIs, they added, enable criminals to evade surveillance, while unsuspecting buyers of stolen devices may face legal repercussions.

The government maintains that Sanchar Saathi provides consumers with the ability to verify IMEI authenticity, block stolen devices, and limit cyber misuse. It emphasised that the mandate is driven solely by “national security imperatives, not surveillance.”

However, the announcement has triggered strong criticism from Opposition parties. Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Priyanka Chaturvedi likened the move to a “BIG BOSS surveillance moment,” alleging that the government was attempting to access personal devices “through shady ways.” She warned that such measures would be “protested and opposed,” arguing that instead of strengthening grievance-redressal mechanisms, the IT Ministry was “creating surveillance systems.”

Congress general secretary KC Venugopal also condemned the directive, calling it “beyond unconstitutional.” In a statement on X, he asserted that “Big Brother cannot watch us,” arguing that the right to privacy is intrinsic to the fundamental right to life under Article 21. He described Sanchar Saathi as a “dystopian tool to monitor every Indian,” claiming that it could track “every movement, interaction and decision” of citizens. The Congress party demanded an immediate rollback, characterising the decision as part of a broader pattern of “relentless assaults” on constitutional freedoms.

Political analyst Tehseen Poonawalla echoed these concerns, calling the mandate “outrageous.” He warned that forcing users to keep a non-removable application on their devices would give the Centre “the power to spy on calls, messages, and location data,” effectively enabling authorities “to track citizens like criminals.”

The government has reiterated that Sanchar Saathi does not access personal data and is designed exclusively to prevent the misuse of illegal devices—an assurance the Opposition continues to dispute.