The Indian government has issued a formal notice to WhatsApp LLC (Meta), directing the platform to justify why regulatory action should not be taken against its newly announced “usernames” feature and instructing the company not to roll it out in India until consultations are satisfactorily concluded.
The letter, addressed to WhatsApp’s Chief Compliance Officer for India Operations, references Meta’s public announcement on June 29, 2026, that it would begin a phased global rollout of usernames, letting users reserve unique handles and eventually message contacts without revealing phone numbers.
The Ministry has directed WhatsApp to furnish a detailed explanation, supported by relevant documents, within three days of receipt, and explicitly ordered that the feature not be activated in India until the government’s concerns are resolved.
Officials flagged that once activated, a recipient’s phone number would no longer be visible to a first-time contact, with an optional “username key” serving as the only added safeguard.
The notice warns this could materially increase online fraud, phishing, digital arrest scams, and impersonation attacks by letting bad actors solicit and message victims while masking their identity.
A Department of Telecommunications official separately noted that a perpetrator could register with a foreign number, adopt a public official’s photo and a similar username, and place fraudulent calls that are nearly impossible to trace—something that was previously possible when numbers began with +91.
The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) had said days prior that it was closely examining the feature and could issue a notice if it found the rollout posed digital security risks.
WhatsApp must respond within the three-day window with documentary support explaining its safeguards, failing which the Ministry has reserved the right to pursue further action under the IT Act, IT Rules, and any other applicable law.
Until the consultation process concludes to the government’s satisfaction, the phased activation of usernames already underway in several other markets remains suspended for Indian users.
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