Empowering Citizens, One Tap at a Time
India, now the world’s second-largest telecom ecosystem with over a billion subscribers, has seen mobile phones become gateways to banking, education, healthcare, entertainment, and government services. But this digital convenience comes with rising risks: cybercrime incidents soared from 15,92,917 in 2023 to 20,41,360 in 2024, according to CERT-In. Alarmingly, 1,23,672 Digital Arrest Scam cases were reported in 2024 alone, with 17,718 more cases logged in the first two months of 2025.
In response, the Department of Telecommunications launched the Sanchar Saathi mobile app (complementing the existing portal) on 17 January 2025. This citizen-centric tool delivers powerful fraud-prevention and security functions: identity-theft protection, blocking forged KYC, device theft assistance, banking fraud safeguards, and more, right on users’ smartphones.
Since then, the impact has been impressive: over 3 crore fraudulent mobile connections terminated, 3.19 lakh devices blocked, 16.97 lakh WhatsApp accounts disabled, and more than 20,000 bulk SMS senders blacklisted, substantially reducing telecom-related fraud and enhancing user safety.
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Features That Make a Difference
The app, available in Hindi and 21 other regional languages, is accessible on both Android and iOS platforms and has already crossed 50 lakh downloads as of August 2025. Key functionalities include:
- Chakshu: Report suspected fraud via calls, SMS, or WhatsApp—especially forged-KYC and identity scams.
- IMEI Tracking & Blocking: Locate and disable lost or stolen phones, deter device cloning, and help law enforcement track stolen devices.
- Mobile Connection Verification: Detect and report suspicious connections created using forged KYC.
- Handset Genuineness Check: Verify the authenticity of mobile devices.
- Report International Calls with +91 IDs: Flag misuse of Indian number prefixes by outlets abroad.
- ISP Lookup: Identify internet service providers by PIN code, address, or name.
Designed with citizen participation, legal compliance, and privacy at its core, Sanchar Saathi empowers users to actively secure their digital identities. It adheres to the Information Technology Act, 2000, and the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023, limiting data collection to essential purposes and ensuring no commercial profiling or unauthorized data sharing.