India, Dec. 3 -- The Department of Telecommunications made a swift U-turn on Wednesday, scrapping its November 28 order that required smartphone manufacturers to pre-install the Sanchar Saathi app on new devices and via software updates. Citing surging user adoption, officials noted over 1.4 crore downloads, including 6 lakh in a single day, signaling strong "jan bhagidari" or public participation. Launched in 2023 by the DoT, this citizen-centric platform has already traced and blocked over 26 lakh lost or stolen mobile handsets, preventing misuse across all telecom networks nationwide

What sparked the initial mandate?

Rising cyber frauds, including phishing scams, impersonation calls, and cloned IMEIs, prompted the push for broader ac...