New Delhi, Aug 9 (IANS) The Sanchar Saathi mobile app, an initiative of the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) to report fraudulent calls and messages, has crossed 50 lakh downloads within six months of its launch, the Ministry of Communication said on Saturday.

Since the app was launched in January this year, the Sanchar Saathi initiative has led to the recovery of over 5.35 lakh lost or stolen mobile handsets, the disconnection of more than 1 crore unauthorised mobile connections based on citizen reports, and the deactivation of over 29 lakh mobile numbers flagged through the Chakshu feature, the Ministry said.

The Sanchar Saathi Portal has witnessed over 16.7 crore visits, reflecting the growing public trust in this citizen-centric digital platform.

With the app, DoT has made a significant impact in enhancing telecom security and empowering citizens.

Recognising the wide linguistic and regional diversity of India, the department has expanded the app’s accessibility by supporting English, Hindi, and 21 regional languages.

“Reporting of fraudulent calls and messages has been made even more seamless, with users now able to file reports directly from their call and SMS logs in just a few taps,” the Ministry said.

DoT has also implemented the Financial Fraud Risk Indicator (FRI), which assesses and categorises mobile numbers based on their association with financial fraud risk.

This tool enables banks, NBFCs, and UPI service providers to take proactive actions to protect consumers.

As a result, 34 financial institutions have frozen 10.02 lakh bank accounts/payment wallets, and imposed debit/credit restrictions on 3.05 lakh accounts, based on FRI ratings, the Ministry stated.

Building on the success of the portal launched on May 16 2023, DoT introduced the Sanchar Saathi Mobile App on January 17, 2025, offering users direct and convenient access to telecom security services.

The ‘Chakshu – Report suspected fraud communications, know mobile connections in your name, blocking lost or stolen mobile handsets, and know mobile handset genuineness are the key features of the Sanchar Saathi application.

The app is available on both Android and iOS platforms.

–IANS

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