A couple of days ago, I reported that the Indian government had issued a directive to manufacturers to pre-install the Sanchar Saathi app on mobile phones. This decision has been withdrawn.
In case you missed it, the Sanchar Saathi app, which is developed by the Department of Telecommunications, is used to report telecom fraud, lost or stolen phones, etc. Refer to my previous coverage for more details about the app.
Shortly after the decision to preload the app on iPhones, and Android devices was announced, there was an uproar from users and politicians in India. Many people had criticized the move, citing potential privacy issues. When questioned about this, Jyotiraditya Scindia, the Union Minister for Communications, told reporters that the app was optional, and that consumers could uninstall it. However, the official wording of the press release had indicated otherwise.
Yesterday, the Indian government issued a press release that confirmed the removal of the mandate to pre-install the Sanchar Saathi app. The statement explains that the mandate would have helped spread awareness of the app, especially among non-tech savvy users. However, since making the headlines, over 600,000 people downloaded the app voluntarily in just one day. These devices help report information on 2000 fraud incidents per day. It also noted that over 1.4 Crore (14 million) users have the Sanchar Saathi app installed on their devices.
The government, having noted the app's popularity, decided it wasn't necessary to pre-install it on phones after all. I told you so! The features are useful, but it should be left to the user to decide whether they want to use it or not.
The reversal of the decision is the right call, but the one to make it mandatory felt hasty, and not properly researched. Reports indicate that Apple and Google had opposed the directive. Maybe they explained why this wasn't a good idea? Anyway, it's good that everything worked out in the end.
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