Sanchar Saathi App: Download, Features & Complete Guide

If you have ever received a suspicious call from someone claiming to be from your bank, or wondered whether someone has taken a SIM card in your name without your knowledge, the Sanchar Saathi app was built for exactly these situations.

Launched by the Department of Telecommunications (DoT), Government of India, Sanchar Saathi brings together four of the most important telecom safety tools under one roof. Whether you lost your phone, want to check how many SIMs are running on your Aadhaar, or need to report a fraud call, the app handles all of it, for free.

This guide covers everything you need to know: what the app does, how to download it, what each service inside it means, and how it compares to using the website.

What is Sanchar Saathi?

Sanchar Saathi means “Communication Companion” it is a citizen safety initiative by India’s Department of Telecommunications. It was originally launched as a web portal in May 2023 and later released as a mobile app in January 2025.

The platform was built in response to a growing problem: telecom fraud in India was rising rapidly, with fake SIM registrations, stolen phones being resold, and scam calls impersonating banks and government agencies becoming increasingly common.

The Sanchar Saathi platform sits at sancharsaathi.gov.in and the app brings all its services to your phone in a single, easy to use interface. As of December 2025, over 1.4 crore Indians had downloaded the app.

It is completely free to use. No fees, no subscriptions.

Download the App

The Sanchar Saathi app is available on both Android and iOS. Download it only from official sources.

Important: Only download the app from the official Play Store or App Store links. Avoid third party APK sites, they may carry modified or unsafe versions.

The app is also accessible through the UMANG app (Unified Mobile Application for New Age Governance) if you already use it for other government services.

How to Register on the App

Once installed, registration takes less than two minutes.

1. Open the app. You will see a home screen listing all available services.
2. An alert box appears asking you to register by sending an SMS to 14522 – the app does this automatically in the background.
3. Enter your name when prompted.
4. Your active mobile number gets verified and linked to your app profile.
5. Done. You can now access all features from the dashboard.

The app uses your registered mobile number as your identity for all services, so make sure you are using the SIM that is actively in your phone.

Four Services Inside the App

Here is what each service does, and when you would actually need it.

1. TAFCOP – Check How Many SIMs Are Active on Your Aadhaar

TAFCOP stands for Telecom Analytics for Fraud Management and Consumer Protection. This is the service that checks how many mobile connections are registered in your name across all telecom operators in India.

You may not know this, but anyone who has ever had access to your Aadhaar, whether at a mobile shop, a bank, or anywhere else could potentially have registered a SIM in your name. The government’s limit is 9 SIM cards per person. But even having 2 or 3 connections you did not apply for is a serious problem.

TAFCOP shows you every active connection under your identity. For any number you do not recognise, you can mark it as “This is not my number” to trigger a fraud investigation.

👉 Read our detailed guide: TAFCOP Portal Login – Check How Many SIM Cards Are Active on Your Name

2. CEIR – Block a Lost or Stolen Phone

CEIR stands for Central Equipment Identity Register. Every mobile phone has a unique 15 digit IMEI number. CEIR maintains a national database of these numbers and works with all telecom operators Jio, Airtel, Vi, BSNL to block or allow devices on their networks.

When your phone is lost or stolen, thieves usually swap the SIM card and keep using the phone or sell it. CEIR stops this. Once you raise a block request with your IMEI number, that device gets added to a national blacklist and stops working on every network in India, regardless of which SIM card is inserted.

The block typically takes effect within 24 hours of submission. If you later recover your phone, you can raise an unblock request through the same portal.

You will need: a police complaint copy, a duplicate SIM, and your phone’s IMEI number (found on the original box or purchase invoice).

👉 Read our step-by-step guide: How to Track and Block Lost or Stolen Mobile Phone Using CEIR Portal

3. Chakshu – Report Fraud Calls, SMS, and WhatsApp Messages

Chakshu is the reporting tool inside Sanchar Saathi for suspicious communications. If you receive a call or message from someone pretending to be from your bank, from TRAI, DoT, a government agency, or any organisation asking for your OTP, KYC details, or personal information, Chakshu is where you report it.

It covers:

• Phone calls
• SMS messages
• WhatsApp messages

The portal at sancharsaathi.gov.in/sfc/ accepts reports for communications received in the last 30 days. Once reported, the DoT takes action, which can include disconnecting the number and investigating the fraud.

According to a government statement in Parliament in February 2026, over 7.7 lakh suspected fraud communications had been reported through Chakshu, resulting in nearly 39 lakh mobile connections being disconnected.

Chakshu is specifically for reporting communications you received that you suspect are fraud. It is different from TAFCOP, that is for checking SIMs in your name. And it is different from the Cyber Crime portal (cybercrime.gov.in), that is for reporting if you have already lost money.

4. Know Your Mobile (KYM) – Verify a Phone’s IMEI Before Buying

Know Your Mobile (KYM) is the handset verification service. Before you buy a second-hand phone, this tool tells you whether that phone’s IMEI number is genuine, blacklisted, or flagged as duplicate or counterfeit.

CEIR maintains three lists for every device:

• White List : the phone is genuine and clear to use
• Grey List : under observation
• Black List : stolen, lost, or blocked

There are three ways to check a phone’s status:

To find the IMEI number of any phone, dial *#06# it appears on screen instantly.

This service is especially useful in India’s large second-hand phone market, where blacklisted and cloned devices are sometimes resold unknowingly.

App vs Website – Which Should You Use?

Both the app and the website (sancharsaathi.gov.in) offer the same core services. Here is when each makes more sense:

The app has one practical advantage for Chakshu reporting: it can read your call and SMS logs directly (with your permission), so details are pre-filled when you submit a complaint. On the website, you have to enter all these manually.

The registration process is also smoother on the app because it verifies your SIM automatically via background SMS no typing needed.

Is the App Safe? The Mandatory Installation Row, Explained

In late November 2025, the DoT issued an order asking all smartphone manufacturers to pre-install the Sanchar Saathi app on every new phone sold in India and to push it as an update to existing devices. The order also said the app’s features could not be disabled by users.

This triggered significant backlash from privacy advocates, opposition parties, and digital rights groups, who raised concerns about the app’s broad permissions, including access to call logs, SMS, photos, camera, and location.

On December 3, 2025, the government withdrew the mandatory installation order. The Ministry of Communications stated that the app had already seen a 10 fold jump in voluntary downloads (to around 6 lakh in a single day), and that the mandate was no longer needed.

Telecom Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia confirmed in Parliament that the app is optional, users can delete it at any time, and it has “no other function other than protecting users.”

Conclusion

The Sanchar Saathi app does something genuinely useful: it puts four important telecom safety tools in one place and makes them accessible even to first-time smartphone users. Whether you are worried about SIM fraud, have lost your phone, or received a suspicious call, there is a specific tool inside the app for each situation.

It is free, built by the government, and available on both Android and iOS. Download it from the official Play Store or App Store, register with your mobile number, and the tools are ready to use.

If you find a connection in your name that you did not take report it immediately on TAFCOP. If your phone is lost, file a police complaint and block the IMEI on CEIR the same day. Do not wait.

FAQs: