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ARTICLE · 27 FEBRUARY 2026

Between Fraud Prevention And Digital Autonomy: Rethinking Sanchar Saathi

Shivadass & Shivadass
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On 28th November 2025 , the Department of Telecommunications issued a directive to manufacturers and importers of mobile handsets in India, to pre-install an application termed ‘Sanchar Saathi' – a mobile application that aims at enhancing cyber security at the device level and providing users with a platform to report cyber fraud.

IndiaPrivacy
Ananya K
Ananya K
Prahalad Sriram
Prahalad Sriram
Prashanth Shivadass
Prashanth Shivadass
Sandra Lisa Philip
Sandra Lisa Philip

Introduction

On 28th November 2025, the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) issued a directive to manufacturers and importers of mobile handsets in India, to pre-install an application termed 'Sanchar Saathi' – a mobile application that aims at enhancing cyber security at the device level and providing users with a platform to report cyber fraud, within a 90-day window. This move launched under the newly amended Telecommunications (Telecom Cyber Security) Rules, 2024 (Rules), was allegedly aimed at strengthening protections against telecom related cyber misuse and fraud. The Rules comprise the legal backbone for India's telecom cyber security regime and confer broad powers on the Central Government, enabling it to issue directions and standards to mitigate misuse of telecommunication identifiers.

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