<h1>Sanchar Saathi app pre-install mandate prompts privacy concerns over access permissions and possible undeletable embedding.</h1> The ministry directed manufacturers to pre-install and update the Sanchar Saathi app on phones, requiring compliance reports within 120 days; the government framed this as necessary to detect spoofed IMEIs and counter telecom fraud, while ministers said the app would remain inactive until user registration and could be deleted, though experts warned that OS embedding and requested permissions (call logs, SMS, camera, notifications, dialer) could prevent deletion and raise privacy and purpose-limitation concerns.