(Image source from: x.com/DoT_India)

India's phone department has told all smartphone companies to put a government cybersecurity app on every new phone, according to an official document. This decision will likely cause problems with Apple, which usually doesn't like such commands. India has one of the biggest phone markets, with over 1.2 billion users. Government numbers show that the app, started in January, has helped find over 700,000 lost phones, including 50,000 in just October. Apple, which has disagreed with phone regulators before about a government anti-spam app, is one of the companies, along with Samsung, Vivo, Oppo, and Xiaomi, that must follow this new rule. The order from November 28, seen by Reuters, gives big smartphone companies 90 days to make sure the government's Sanchar Saathi app is on new phones and that users can't remove it.

For phones already being made, the order says companies must send the app to phones through software updates. Although Apple puts its own apps on phones, its rules don't allow it to install any government or other company's app before a phone is sold, a person with direct information said.

Xiaomi and India's telecom ministry did not reply to questions. Two people in the industry, who wished to remain unnamed, said they worried that companies were not asked for their opinion before the new rule was put in place. The government stated in the rule that the app was necessary to fight the "serious risk" to internet safety from fake or copied IMEI numbers, which are used for tricks and wrong network use. An IMEI, or International Mobile Equipment Identity, is a special 14- to 17-digit number for each phone, mainly used to stop stolen phones from connecting to a network. The government's app lets people report bad calls, check IMEIs, and block stolen phones using a main list.

Since it started, the app has been downloaded over 5 million times and has helped block more than 3.7 million lost or stolen phones, and over 30 million fake phone connections have been stopped. The government says the app helps stop online dangers, finds and blocks lost or stolen phones, helps police track phones, and keeps fake items off the illegal market.