Apple to resist India govt order to preload Sanchar Saathi app on mobiles: Report

NEW DELHI: Apple does not plan to comply with the mandate to preload mobile handsets with the ‘Sanchar Saathi’ app and will convey its concerns before the Indian government, Reuters reported on Tuesday, citing three unnamed sources.

The government’s move regarding the ‘Sanchar Saathi’ app sparked political uproar, with the Opposition questioning the government’s motives. According to the Reuters report, the Indian government has “confidentially” ordered companies, including Apple, to preload their phones with the app, within 90 days.

The app, according to the government, is intended to track stolen phones, block them, and prevent their misuse. To safeguard the citizens from buying the non-genuine handsets, enabling easy reporting of suspected misuse of telecom resources and to increase the effectiveness of the Sanchar Saathi initiative, the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has mandated some norms for the manufacturers and importers of mobile handsets that are intended for use in India.

According to a statement from the Ministry of Communications on Monday, manufacturers and importers of mobile handsets have been asked to ensure that the Sanchar Saathi mobile application is pre-installed on all mobile handsets manufactured or imported for use in India.

The mobile handsets must have pre-installed Sanchar Saathi application 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, the Ministry of Communications said in a statement Monday evening.

For 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. Directions mandate completing the implementation within 90 days and submitting the report within 120 days.

The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) is undertaking the Sanchar Saathi initiative for curbing the misuse of telecom resources for cyber fraud and ensuring telecom cyber security. The DoT 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/ stolen mobile handsets, checking mobile connections in their name, and trusted contact details of banks/ financial institutions.

The Telecom Cyber Security (TCS) rules empower the central government to issue directions to manufacturers of telecommunication equipment bearing an International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI) number to provide assistance as required in relation to tampered telecommunication equipment or IMEI number. The Rules also mandate that such manufacturers or importers shall ensure compliance with the directions as may be issued by the Central Government for the purpose of giving effect to the rules.

“Mobile handsets bearing duplicate or spoofed IMEI pose serious endangerment to telecom cybersecurity. Spoofed/tampered IMEIs in tthe elecom network leads to situation where same IMEI is working in different devices at different places simultaneously and pose challenges in action against such IMEIs. India has big second-hand mobile device market”, the Ministry of Communications said. (ANI)