India, Dec. 1 -- The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has mandated the pre-installation of the Sanchar Saathi app on all new mobile handsets manufactured or imported for sale in India.

The directive was issued to all original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and importers on Monday.

It urged the manufacturers to ensure that the app was 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 portal, set up in May 2023, allows the reporting and blocking of mobile phones which are lost, and malicious web links. It further helps in knowing the number of mobile connections in a user's name, and to check trusted contact details of banks and ...