New Delhi, June 4 -- Even as millions of rural women in India are using mobile phones and the internet, and making digital payments, many may be doing so on borrowed devices.

A new government survey of 142,065 people across India reveals a striking paradox: while 76.3% of rural women aged 15 and above use mobile phones-for personal calls or internet access-just 48.4% actually own one. That means more than a quarter of female mobile users in rural India don't own the device they use, exposing a deeper gap in digital agency and privacy.

These findings, from the Comprehensive Modular Survey: Telecom (CMS:T) conducted by the statistics ministry between January and March 2025, highlight how India's digital revolution, fuelled by affordable s...