India just dropped a bombshell on the smartphone industry. The country's Department of Telecommunications is forcing Apple, Samsung, and other major manufacturers to preload a state-owned security app on every new phone sold in India - and there's no way to delete it. With a 90-day compliance deadline and India's massive mobile market at stake, this regulatory curveball could reshape how tech giants operate in one of their fastest-growing regions.
India's Department of Telecommunications just handed down what might be the most significant regulatory mandate in smartphone history. The government quietly sent orders to major manufacturers on November 28th requiring them to preload the state-owned Sanchar Saathi app on every new device sold in India, with existing phones getting the app through mandatory software updates. The kicker? Users can't disable or delete it.
The 90-day compliance clock is already ticking for Apple, Samsung, Vivo, Oppo, and Xiaomi, according to Reuters reporting. None of these companies responded to requests for comment, but the silence speaks volumes about how caught off-guard the industry was by this move.
This isn't happening in a vacuum. Russia pulled a similar stunt in August, mandating that manufacturers preload their state-backed messenger app Max on all new devices. What we're seeing is a global trend of governments asserting direct control over the software that lives on citizens' phones.
The Sanchar Saathi app itself isn't entirely controversial - it's designed to help users block and track lost or stolen phones using their IMEI numbers, plus report suspected fraud messages. The app is already available on both the App Store and Google Play Store. But making it mandatory and undeletable crosses a line that has privacy advocates and industry watchers concerned about precedent.
For Apple, the timing couldn't be more awkward. The company just celebrated its best year ever in India, with sales hitting a record $9 billion in September, driven by aggressive retail expansion and local manufacturing. has been making similar moves, launching earlier this year and ramping up local production.
