‘Avoidable burden’ – Handset companies see red over DoT mandate on Sanchar Saathi

In a move which is sure to be opposed by handset manufacturers, the department of telecommunications (DoT) has issued a directive requiring that its fraud-reporting application Sanchar Saathi be pre-installed on all new mobile devices sold in the country within the next 90 days. The mandate covers both phones manufactured domestically and those imported into the country, marking the first time the government has ordered uniform, compulsory bundling of a specific consumer app across the handset ecosystem.