Sanchar Saathi App: How to Check SIMs, Block Lost Phones and Report Fraud

Featured image: Victorgrigas / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0 (resized).

The Sanchar Saathi app is the Department of Telecommunications' (DoT) free tool for protecting your mobile number and phone. With it you can report fraud calls and messages, see every SIM issued in your name, block a lost or stolen phone across all networks, and check whether a handset is genuine before you buy it. According to a PIB release of 5 October 2026, the app has been downloaded more than 2.8 crore times, and the Sanchar Saathi portal has had more than 30 crore visits since it launched in May 2023.

Here is what each feature does and how to use the most important ones.

What Sanchar Saathi offers

The same services are available on the website, sancharsaathi.gov.in, and in the app for Android and iPhone. PIB lists these services:

• Chakshu: report suspected fraud calls, SMS or WhatsApp messages, such as fake KYC or bill alerts, impersonation of police, government or bank officials, and fake job, loan or investment offers.
• Know mobile connections in your name: see every mobile number issued on your identity and report any you did not take or no longer need.
• Block your lost or stolen handset: block a phone on every operator's network in India, help trace it, and unblock it if it is found.
• Know the genuineness of your handset: check a phone's IMEI number before buying, especially second-hand.
• Report international calls with Indian numbers: flag calls from abroad that show a +91 number.
• Trusted Contact Details: look up the genuine customer care numbers, email IDs and websites of banks and financial institutions.
• Keep Yourself Aware: read alerts on current scams such as fake loan apps, investment frauds, fake job calls and fake traffic challans.

How to register on the Sanchar Saathi app

1. Install Sanchar Saathi by the Department of Telecommunications from Google Play or the App Store. Check the developer name to avoid copycat apps.
2. Open the app and choose your language. It works in English, Hindi and 21 regional languages.
3. Allow the registration SMS. According to the Play Store listing, the app sends a one-time SMS to DoT's number 14522 to verify the SIMs in your phone.
4. Enter your name. Your active numbers then appear inside the app, ready to use in each service.

Permissions: The app asks for access to call and SMS logs so you can pick a suspicious call or message to report. The Play Store listing says the logs stay on your phone, and only the details you choose to report are sent to DoT. Photo access is for attaching screenshots, and camera access is for scanning an IMEI barcode.

In late 2025, DoT directed phone makers to pre-install the app on new phones. After a privacy backlash, it withdrew the order on 3 December 2025, as The Hindu reported. Installing it is voluntary, and you can delete it.

Check how many SIMs are in your name

Fraudsters often use SIMs issued on someone else's documents. Run this check once a year, and again after any KYC scare.

1. Open Know Mobile Connections in Your Name and log in with your number and OTP.
2. Look through the list of numbers linked to your identity.
3. Mark any number as Not my number or Not required, and submit.

The portal's FAQ says flagged numbers go to the operator for re-verification. If the number is not re-verified, outgoing services are suspended within 30 days, incoming services within 45 days, and the connection is cut within 60 days. One person can hold at most nine mobile connections in India, or six in Jammu and Kashmir, Assam and the North Eastern states. For a second check on incoming calls, see our CNAP caller-name guide.

Report a fraud call or message with Chakshu

1. Open Chakshu and choose call, SMS or WhatsApp.
2. Select the communication from your log, or type in the number, date and time. The form accepts only communications from the last 30 days.
3. Choose the fraud category, add a short description (at least 30 characters) and a screenshot if you have one, then confirm with the OTP.

Each report helps DoT check the sender, re-verify or disconnect the number, and if needed file a police complaint. PIB says Chakshu reports have led to action in 59.82 lakh cases, including more than 50 lakh disconnections. Chakshu is for suspected fraud, though. If you have already lost money, call 1930 or file a complaint at cybercrime.gov.in straight away, as both DoT and our digital arrest scam explainer advise. Fast reporting gives the best chance of freezing the money.

Block a lost or stolen phone

1. File a police report, online or at a police station, and keep a copy.
2. Get a duplicate SIM for the lost number from your operator. The OTP for the blocking request is sent to it, and SMS on a reissued SIM may take 24 hours to start working.
3. Fill in the block request on the Sanchar Saathi portal or app with the police report, an ID proof and, if you have it, the purchase invoice. Note the Request ID.

If anyone uses the blocked phone, a trace is generated and shared with the police. If you get the phone back, tell the police it has been found, then unblock it using your Request ID. PIB puts the totals at 60.96 lakh handsets blocked, 37.85 lakh traced and more than 14 lakh recovered. The portal's live dashboard showed 63.65 lakh blocked and 39.33 lakh traced when we checked on 12 November 2026.

Check a phone before you buy it

Dial *#06# on the handset to see its 15-digit IMEI. Then enter it in Know Genuineness of Your Mobile Handset, or send an SMS reading KYM <IMEI> to 14422, as the portal's FAQ describes. If the result is blacklisted, invalid or doesn't match the model in your hand, don't buy it.

Use Trusted Contact Details before you call back

Many scams start with a fake helpline number found online. Before calling your bank, look up the official number in Trusted Contact Details. The same habit protects you from fake gas-agency calls; see our LPG e-KYC guide for the official ways to update KYC. Use official domains for government payments too, as our Aadhaar PVC card guide explains.

Frequently asked questions

Is the Sanchar Saathi app free?

Yes. It is a free government app from the Department of Telecommunications.

Is it mandatory to install Sanchar Saathi?

No. DoT withdrew its pre-installation order on 3 December 2025, so installing it is voluntary.

Does Chakshu get my money back?

No. Chakshu helps stop fraudulent numbers. To recover money, call 1930 or report at cybercrime.gov.in immediately, and inform your bank.

How many SIMs can I have?

Up to nine across all operators, or six in Jammu and Kashmir, Assam and the North Eastern states.

Sources: PIB release on Sanchar Saathi (5 October 2026); Sanchar Saathi portal and FAQ (sancharsaathi.gov.in, accessed 12 November 2026); Google Play listing for the Sanchar Saathi app; The Hindu (pre-installation order withdrawn, 3 December 2025). Figures change daily on the portal's dashboard.

Featured image: Victorgrigas / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0 (resized). A woman on a mobile phone in Bengaluru (2011); illustrative.