The decision, announced by India’s communications ministry on Wednesday
The government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi has made a swift U-turn on a controversial order that would have mandated the pre-installation of a state-run cybersecurity app on all new smartphones sold in India, following a sharp backlash from politicians, privacy advocates, and global tech giants.
The decision, announced by India’s communications ministry in a press statement on Wednesday, scraps a directive that had been privately conveyed to manufacturers like Apple, Samsung, and Xiaomi on 28 November. The original order required the app, named Sanchar Saathi, to be non-deletable and pre-loaded within 90 days.
“Government has decided not to make the pre-installation mandatory for mobile manufacturers,” the ministry stated.
Political Protests & Tech Resistance
The reversal follows mounting pressure and an outcry over potential surveillance risks. Opposition parties had lodged formal protests, while newspaper editorials joined privacy advocates in denouncing the compulsory measure.
The government also faced quiet but firm resistance from global phone makers. Sources confirmed that both Apple and Samsung had been planning not to comply with the directive.
The U-turn is particularly notable as it comes a day after government ministers were actively defending the plan, insisting the app was purely a consumer safety measure designed to track and block stolen phones and prevent their misuse.
Mishi Choudhary, a tech lawyer specialising in internet advocacy, welcomed the decision but critiqued the underlying regulatory process. “India’s highly unpredictable regulatory framework presents constant challenges for business that values predictability,” she said. “This is a welcome move but arbitrary policy decisions without any analysis of what effectively works to curb frauds is concerning.”
Backdoor Fears & Russian Precedent
Concerns centred on the order’s insistence that the app could not be disabled or deleted, leading to fears of potential government access to user data.
Earlier on Wednesday, Randeep Singh Surjewala, a senior Congress leader, had formally petitioned Parliament for clarification on the government’s legal authority for “mandating a non-removable app” and called for a debate on security risks.
”The grave, serious and real apprehension is also that such compulsorily installed app can have a backdoor, thereby absolutely compromising the data and privacy of the user,” Surjewala warned.
Mandatory pre-installation of state-backed apps has little precedent among major democracies; the primary known parallel is Russia, which ordered a state-backed messenger application, MAX, to be pre-installed on all mobile devices amid criticism that it could be used for user tracking.
Government Cites Popularity in Reversal
In its statement backtracking on the order, the government claimed its decision was due to the app’s growing popularity without the mandate. Since Tuesday, officials noted that 600,000 citizens had voluntarily downloaded the application.
“The app is secure and purely meant to help citizens from bad actors in the cyber world,” the government maintained.
This is the second significant policy reversal by the Modi government in as many years, following a retreat last year on a restrictive laptop import licensing policy after lobbying from US officials. Modi’s administration also faced criticism and later diluted a 2020 order that made the use of a COVID-19 contact-tracing app compulsory for office workers, following privacy protests.