As more of our lives spent working, banking, business task online, so is the vulnerability around our smartphones are growing immensely. From fraudulent scam calls to phone thefts and tempered devices, staying safe and guarded often feels overwhelming.
That’s where Sanchar Saathi, created by the Department of Telecommunications (DoT), guard us — a single platform app built to help common Indian individuals safeguard themselves every day.
Here’s how it helps:
1. Report Fraud Calls and Messages — ‘Chakshu’

If you receive dubious calls, SMS or WhatsApp messages claiming to be from:
a. Banks or government offices
b. Police or telecom authorities
c. Fake investment or trading schemes
d. KYC updates or payment alerts.
you can easily report them through Chakshu. This helps stop scams before they spread to others.
2. Block or Track Your Lost Mobile Phone

Losing a phone can feel like losing your whole life.
Sanchar Saathi lets you:
a. Block your lost/stolen phone so nobody else can use it
b. Help generate a trace if someone tries to use it
c. Unblock it again when it’s found
This works across all Indian telecom networks
3. 
Sometimes, unknown numbers are issued using your ID without your permission.
With this tool, you can:
✔ See how many mobile connections are linked to your name
✔ Report numbers you never took
✔ Cancel extra or misused SIMs
This protects your identity from being used for fraud.
4. Verify if Your Phone Is Genuine

Fake and cloned phones are common — and risky.
By typing your IMEI number, Sanchar Saathi detects whether your device is original, safe, and legally valid in India.
A must confirmation tool before buying a used phone!
5. Report International Calls That Pretend to Be Local

Fraudster often call from various other countries while showing a +91XXXXXXX number on screen.
These fraud calls:
a. Hide their real identity
b. Try to cheat people
c. Harm national security
Reporting them helps authorities deactivate such networks.
6. Find Your mobile Internet Service Provider 
Not sure which Wireline Internet Service provider serves your area?
Simply enter your PIN code, address, or ISP name and get the instant details
This helps when choosing your internet provider or migrating your present internet service provider.
7. Verify Trusted Customer Care Contacts

Scammers often pretend to be from banks or companies.
This feature lets you:
✔ Check if a number is genuinely from the organization
✔ Confirm verified email IDs and website links
It’s a quick way to impersonate falling into a fraud trap.
Why Sanchar Saathi Matters
India’s digital growth is fast — but so are the growing cyber threats and scam.
Sanchar Saathi gives every smartphone user simple tools to stay protected:
a. Stops scammers from misusing your identity
b. Prevents lost devices from being misused or re-sold
c. Helps curb cloned & illegal phones
d. Gives peace of mind when communicating online
The government has even directed phone makers to pre-install Sanchar Saathi on new smartphones, so people can safeguard all these
protections from day one.
A Safer Digital India, A Surging Digital India
Sanchar Saathi is a very important security safeguard app — it facilitate real time fraud prevention for every Indian who posses a mobile phone.
By staying alert and using this app, we can mitigate scam, fraud, reduce theft, and build a more safe digital India together.
Opposition’s “Snooping” “Big Boss” “Tracker” Privacy Rhetoric Against Sanchar Saathi App
The Government Department Of telecommunication’s (DoT) directive to all mobile handset manufacturers and importers to sell pre installed Sanchar Saathi app in all new devices within 90 days, has drawn as expected a sharp privacy rhetoric from the Oppositions.
- “The Modi government’s diktat to all mobile manufacturers to install Sanchar Saarthi app on all new and existing phones is a brazen attack on individual privacy and liberty. No democracy in the world has ever attempted to do so.
The notification issued by the government has no mention of seeking individual consent to install the app or providing the option to delete it at any time. @AamAadmiParty condemns such gross dictatorial actions and demands immediate withdrawal of the notification“
stated by Arvind Kejriwal on X.
While Rahul Gandhi, Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, said he would speak in the debate in the House about it, his sister and Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra called it a “snooping app”.
2. “#SancharSaathi app is yet another addition to the long list of attempts by the BJP to strangulate the voice of the people.
Modi Govt’s unilateral directions to preload this app without taking into confidence various stakeholders and citizens is akin to dictatorship.
Why does the Govt want to know what citizens talk with their family and friends?” stated by Mallikarjun Kharge on X.
3. Big Brother cannot watch us. This DoT Direction is beyond unconstitutional.
The Right to Privacy is an intrinsic part of the fundamental right to life and liberty, enshrined in Article 21 of the Constitution.
A pre-loaded government app that cannot be uninstalled is a dystopian tool to monitor every Indian. It is a means to watch over every movement, interaction and decision of each citizen. This is part of the long series of relentless assaults on the Constitutional Rights of Indian citizens and will not be allowed to continue. We reject this Direction and demand an immediate rollback – stated by Senior Congress leader KC Venugopal on X.
4. Sanchar Saathi mobile application mandate to every mobile phone manufacturer as a permanent mobile feature by the GoI is nothing but another BIG BOSS surveillance moment. Such shady ways to get into individual phones will be protested and opposed & if the IT Ministry thinks that instead of creating robust redressal systems it will create surveillance systems then it should be ready for a pushback! –
stated by Priyanka Chaturvedi, Rajya Sabha MP from Shiv Sena (UBT) on X.
Amid the massive opposition parties uproar surrounding the Centre’s directions to phone manufacturers to pre-install the Sanchar Saathi app on all mobile devices, responding to the media’s queries, Government Of India – Dot Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia has clarified that –
The digital security of every citizen of the country is our top priority. The ‘Sanchar Saathi’ app aims to enable everyone to protect their privacy
and remain safe from online fraud.
It is a completely voluntary and democratic system – users can activate the app and avail its benefits, or if they do not wish to, they can
easily delete it from their phone at any time.
Public trust in Sanchar Saathi is continuously growing.
– Over 200 million people have used the portal so far.
– Over 15 million users are connected to the app.
– Over 14.3 million mobile connections were disconnected when citizens selected ‘Not My Number’.
– 2.6 million mobile phones were traced, of which 72.3 million phones were successfully returned to citizens.
– 40.96 million fraudulent mobile connections reported by citizens were disconnected.
– 620,000 fraud-linked IMEIs have been blocked.
This initiative is a significant step towards strengthening protection, transparency and a customer-first approach.
@DoT_India
https://bharatnewsupdates.com/