Sanchar Saathi

Introduction: Sanchar Saathi is a citizen-centric initiative of the Department of Telecommunications (DoT), Ministry of Communications, designed to improve telecom security and help mobile subscribers detect and report misuse.

Key pointers

  • Nodal department: Department of Telecommunications.

  • Platform: Available through a web portal and mobile application.

  • Chakshu: Enables users to report suspected fraudulent communications received through calls, SMS and supported messaging channels.

  • Lost or stolen mobile phones: Provides facilities to request blocking and support tracing or recovery of devices.

  • Know Mobile Connections in Your Name: Helps subscribers identify mobile connections registered against their identity.

  • IMEI verification: Helps check the genuineness of mobile handsets.

  • Security relevance: Helps address telecom-related fraud, identity misuse and mobile-device theft.

  • Mobile application launch: January 2025.

UPSC focus: Associate Sanchar Saathi with the Department of Telecommunications, not TRAI. Chakshu is used for reporting suspected fraud communications; it is not itself a general-purpose banking fraud recovery service.