Cybersecurity: ICEA on Sanchar Saathi Order Withdrawal

New Delhi, Dec 3 (PTI) Mobile phone industry body ICEA on Wednesday said it supports cybersecurity initiatives, emphasising that such measures are most effective when they avoid mandatory obligations and instead encourage adoption through clarity, practicality, and confidence-building for users and the industry.

India Cellular and Electronics Association (ICEA), whose members include Apple, Google, Vivo, and Oppo, hailed the government decision to withdraw the order mandating pre-installation of the security app Sanchar Saathi.

"As an industry body committed to building a safe and trusted digital ecosystem, ICEA strongly supports initiatives that enhance cybersecurity. At the same time, such measures are most effective when they avoid imposing mandatory obligations on users and industry, encouraging adoption through clarity, practicality and confidence-building," ICEA said.

The government on Wednesday withdrew its directive requiring smartphone makers to pre-install a state-run cybersecurity application on all new devices, as it moved to quell rising concerns that the measure could have compromised user privacy or enabled surveillance.

The Sanchar Saathi app, which the government says only helps track and block stolen phones and prevents them from being misused, will, however, continue to be available on app stores for voluntary downloads.

The government's move to withdraw the order follows protests from opposition parties and privacy advocates, who felt the app could listen to calls and read messages like Pegasus.

Some manufacturers, such as Apple and Google, were said to have voiced reservations over the November 28 order.

The Department of Telecom has clarified that the intent of the mandatory order is to make the app widely available to help people report about financial online frauds, trace their lost mobile phone, etc.

"National security must always come first. We fully support the government's continued efforts to strengthen the safety, integrity and resilience of our digital ecosystem. Every step taken to protect citizens and secure India's digital infrastructure deserves complete alignment," ICEA Chairman Pankaj Mohindroo said.

He said the government's decision to revoke the order also reaffirms the importance of comprehensive stakeholder consultations to ensure that future digital security policies are inclusive, technically robust and aligned with on-ground realities.

"As India's digital and electronics landscape expands, our collective responsibility grows even stronger. I remain deeply committed to working with the Government of India to advance policies that reinforce trust, strengthen national security and safeguard our long-term strategic interests. On matters of national security, there can be no ambiguity; we stand firmly aligned with national interest," Mohindroo said.

SFLC.in founder Mishi Choudhary said while the rollback is indeed a "welcome move", arbitrary policy decisions without any analysis of what effectively works to curb fraud are concerning.

"While this may have been rolled back, the SIM binding mandate is still a major concern that will make citizens' lives harder. A very bad architectural decision that will not solve the problem," Choudhary said.

She said DoT needs to address major fraud vectors, such as social engineering like phishing, smishing, remote access apps, SIM swap, mule bank accounts, fake loan apps, cross-border call centres, to solve the issue.

Choudhary advocated and added that these require financial network controls, not a phone-side app.