Sanchar Saathi Guide 2026: Report Fraud Calls and Block a Lost Phone

The Sanchar Saathi app is the Department of Telecommunications putting four separate problems behind one login: fraud calls and messages you want to report, a phone that has been stolen, mobile connections issued in your name without your knowledge, and a second-hand handset whose IMEI you do not trust. Each of those used to mean a different form on a different site. Now they sit together, on the web portal and in the official app, and none of them costs anything.

What follows is a practical tour from TechLein of what each module does, what it realistically achieves, and where it stops being the right tool. That last part matters. Sanchar Saathi is a telecom-side service. It can get a handset blocked and a fraudulent SIM disconnected, but it is not where you go to recover money that has already left your account.

Key takeaways

• Chakshu is for reporting suspected fraud calls, SMS and WhatsApp messages before money is lost.
• CEIR blocks a lost or stolen phone across all Indian networks and unblocks it if you get it back.
• The connections module shows which mobile numbers are registered against your identity.
• Know Your Mobile checks whether a handset IMEI is genuine, duplicated or blacklisted.

What Sanchar Saathi is

Sanchar Saathi is a citizen-facing platform operated by the Department of Telecommunications. It began as a web portal bundling several telecom fraud tools and later gained a mobile app that carries the same services. Everything on it is free, and every module works on a mobile number plus an OTP rather than requiring an account with a password.

Because the services touch identity documents and device identifiers, use only the official portal and the official app listings. Search results throw up lookalike sites that mimic the forms; there is no legitimate private intermediary for any of this.

Chakshu: reporting fraud communication

Chakshu is the module for suspicious calls and messages. The idea is to capture the attempt while it is still an attempt, so the department and the operators can act on the number before it reaches more people. You pick the medium, the category and the date, paste in the number and, where you have it, a screenshot or a short description of what was said.

The categories cover the scripts that actually circulate: fake KYC expiry warnings, bogus bank or wallet messages, impersonation of officials, fake customer care numbers, sextortion, and false claims about your electricity or gas connection being cut off. Choosing the right category helps, because it routes the report usefully.

What Chakshu does and does not do

A Chakshu report feeds intelligence that can lead to a number being disconnected and, in serious cases, to further action. What it does not do is chase a refund or register a criminal complaint on your behalf. If money has already moved, the correct channel is the national cyber crime reporting portal and the cyber crime helpline, and speed matters enormously there because banks can sometimes hold a transfer that has not yet settled.

The scripts these calls follow are worth learning in advance. Our explainers on the digital arrest scam and on UPI payment fraud protection cover the two families of fraud that generate the largest share of reports, and recognising the opening lines is more useful than any reporting tool.

CEIR: blocking a lost or stolen phone

The Central Equipment Identity Register is the module that produces the most immediate practical result. Reporting a lost or stolen handset blocks its IMEI across every Indian network, so the phone cannot make calls or use mobile data no matter which SIM is inserted. It also lets you unblock it yourself if the phone comes back.

The order of operations trips people up. You need a police complaint first, because the CEIR form asks for the FIR or complaint details and a copy of the document. Filing that report is therefore not an optional formality, it is the prerequisite. Our step-by-step guide to blocking a lost or stolen phone using CEIR covers the full sequence, including what to do about the SIM and the linked accounts before you get to the IMEI at all.

Know Your Mobile Connections

This module, which older articles still call TAFCOP, lists the mobile connections registered against your identity. You enter a number you hold, verify with an OTP, and see the connections tied to the same subscriber record. Anything you do not recognise can be flagged as not yours, and anything you no longer want can be surrendered.

Since the general cap is nine connections per individual across all operators, most people find the list shorter than the limit but longer than they expected. Our detailed walkthrough on how to check the SIM cards registered on your Aadhaar explains what each reporting option triggers at the operator’s end and how long the process takes.

Know Your Mobile: the IMEI check

The IMEI is the fifteen-digit serial number that identifies a handset on the network. The Know Your Mobile service checks a given IMEI against the national database and returns one of a few verdicts: valid, duplicated, or blacklisted because it was reported stolen. The check is available on the portal, in the app, and through an SMS route for people without data.

Run it before you pay for any second-hand phone. A blacklisted IMEI means the device is stolen and will stop working the moment the block is enforced, and a duplicate usually indicates a cloned or tampered device. Dial the standard code to display the IMEI on the handset itself rather than trusting the number printed on the box, since boxes are easily swapped. Our guide on how to check whether a phone is original or refurbished using its IMEI covers the wider set of checks worth running at the point of purchase.

The modules at a glance

Setting the app up

1. Install the Sanchar Saathi app from the official Play Store or App Store listing, checking that the publisher is the Department of Telecommunications.
2. Open it and enter the mobile number you want to use, then verify the OTP sent to that number.
3. Grant only the permissions the module you are using actually needs. There is no reason to hand over contacts access to file a Chakshu report.
4. Pick your service from the home screen and complete the form for that module.
5. Note the reference or request ID at the end of each submission. Every module has a separate status-tracking option that needs it.

You do not have to use the app at all. Every service is available on the web portal from a browser, which is often easier if you need to attach a scanned FIR copy from a computer.

Where Sanchar Saathi ends and something else begins

Think of the platform as covering the telecom layer of a fraud: the number that called you, the SIM issued in your name, the handset that was taken. The moment the problem becomes financial, it moves to a different system. Unauthorised debits go to your bank first and to the cyber crime channels immediately afterwards. Account takeovers go to the platform’s own recovery process.

It is also not a document service. For certificates, licences and government records you want the DigiLocker ecosystem, which our complete DigiLocker guide for India covers, or the wider service catalogue described in our UMANG app guide. Knowing which platform owns which problem is most of the battle when something has gone wrong and you are short of time.

Frequently asked questions

Is the Sanchar Saathi app mandatory on new phones?

It is a voluntary download from the official app stores, and like any app it can be installed or removed by the user. There has been public discussion about preinstallation requirements for handset makers; for the current position, rely on official Department of Telecommunications announcements rather than forwarded messages.

Does reporting on Chakshu get my money back?

No. Chakshu handles the communication side. For financial loss, contact your bank at once and file a report through the national cyber crime channels, where timing affects whether a transfer can be held.

Can I block a phone without an FIR?

The CEIR form asks for police complaint details and a copy, so file the complaint first. Many states allow an online complaint, which is usually enough to proceed.

Is there any charge for these services?

No. Every module is free. Any site or agent asking for a fee to block an IMEI or check your connections is not the official service.

Will the IMEI check tell me if a phone is refurbished?

Not directly. It tells you whether the IMEI is valid, duplicated or blacklisted. Refurbishment is established through the handset’s service history and physical checks.

The bottom line

Sanchar Saathi is one of the more genuinely useful things the government has shipped for ordinary phone users, largely because each module maps to a specific bad day and produces a specific outcome. The connections audit and the IMEI check are worth running proactively; Chakshu and CEIR are worth knowing about before you need them, because both are far easier when you are not panicking.

Spend ten minutes now checking which connections are registered in your name, and note down where the CEIR form lives. If a phone goes missing later, the difference between a blocked handset and an unblocked one is usually just how quickly you remembered that the service exists.