Clause 7(b).. requires that the pre-installed Sanchar Saathi application be “readily visible” and that, “its functionalities are not disabled or restricted.” In plain terms, this converts every smartphone sold in India into a vessel for state mandated software that the user cannot meaningfully refuse, control, or remove. For this to work in practice, the app will almost certainly need system level or root level access, similar to carrier or OEM system apps, so that it cannot be disabled. That design choice erodes the protections that normally prevent one app from peering into the data of others, and turns Sanchar Saathi into a permanent, non-consensual point of access sitting inside the operating system of every Indian smartphone user.

> The app is intended to track stolen phones, block them and prevent them from being misused.

> India's telecom ministry confirmed the move later, describing it as a security measure to combat "serious endangerment" of cyber security.

Both android and iOS natively support tracking/blocking a lost device.

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Approximately 50000 devices are stolen every month in India. [0] The govt wants its app on 730M phones [1].

[0] https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/karnataka-telangan...

[1] https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/boards-policy-regulat...