India, Sept. 1 -- Losing a mobile phone has become a frequent concern across India, with lakhs of cases reported every year. To tackle this, the government introduced a system that allows citizens to block, trace, and recover lost or stolen phones. The Sanchar Saathi portal, developed by the Centre for Development of Telematics (C-DOT) under the Department of Telecommunications (DoT), plays a central role in this process.

Since its rollout, the platform has blocked more than 33 lakh smartphones, traced over 20 lakh devices, and helped return about 4.5 lakh phones to owners. The process depends heavily on early reporting before the phone gets resold or smuggled. Here is a step-by-step guide to follow if you lose your device.

In short, if...