The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has developed Sanchar Saathi, a citizen-centric initiative intended to prevent misuse of telecommunications resources in digital frauds. Sanchar Saathi is offered through both a web portal and a mobile app, with features focused on reporting suspected fraud communications and enabling citizens to verify telecom assets linked to their identity.

What happened

DoT introduced Sanchar Saathi as a citizen-facing tool to address fraud-related telecom misuse. The initiative is positioned around multiple user actions: reporting suspected fraud communications, checking mobile connections in a citizen’s name, reporting connections that a citizen does not require or did not take, reporting lost or stolen mobile handsets, and checking the genuineness of mobile handsets.

Background and earlier position

Digital fraud frequently leverages telecom-linked infrastructure such as mobile numbers, SIMs, and handsets. Prior to Sanchar Saathi, citizens typically relied on grievance mechanisms and operator channels to address identity-linked or handset-linked issues; the initiative formalises a single citizen interface for reporting and verification tasks under DoT oversight.

What changed now