Three sources said the company has no intention of preloading a state-owned cyber safety app on its smartphones and will take its complaints to the Indian government after the plan triggered surveillance fears and a lively political scrap.

India told Apple, Samsung and Xiaomi to bundle an app called Sanchar Saathi within 90 days. The software tracks stolen phones, blocks them and stops crooks misusing them. The telecom ministry confirmed the push later and described it as essential for tackling “serious endangerment” of cybersecurity.

The government wants the app to be impossible to disable and told manufacturers to push it onto devices already in the pipeline through software updates. Opposition politicians and privacy advocates said the move hands the state a direct line into the country’s 730 million smartphones.

Telecom minister Jyotiraditya M Scindia insisted it was a “voluntary and democratic system” and claimed users can turn it on or “easily delete it from their phone at any time.” At the moment, users can delete it, although Scindia did not clarify the 28 November directive ordering manufacturers to preload it and stop anyone restricting its functions.

Two industry sources familiar with Job’s Mob’s thinking said the company will tell officials that it does not follow such commands anywhere because they raise awkward privacy and security issues for its iOS ecosystem.

“It's not only like taking a sledgehammer, but this is like a double-barreled gun,” said the first source.

Apple and the telecom ministry stayed silent when asked for comment. Indian lawmakers did not. Parliament saw a rowdy session as MPs called the app a snooping tool. Congress politician Rahul Gandhi said he planned to challenge it, while senior Congress figure KC Venugopal posted on X that “Big Brother cannot watch us.”

The ministry said the app tackles spoofed or duplicated IMEI numbers that enable fraud and added that India’s busy second-hand phone market had become a haven for dodgy resales of stolen or blacklisted devices.

Job’s Mob’s aversion to being told what to do is hardly a surprise given its grip on the App Store and iOS software, which underpin its services haul of around $100 billion each year. Android makers like Samsung and Xiaomi have more freedom because Google’s mobile system is open-sourced.

A second source said Apple does not plan to sue or take a public swipe but will tell officials that the mandate opens security holes it cannot accept. Apple “can’t do this. Period,” the person said.

Other brands, including Samsung, are still studying the order, another industry insider said. Government sources claim the directive was issued without consultation with the firms expected to implement it.