WhatsApp has a new idea. Instead of sharing your phone number with every stranger you message, you’ll soon be able to use a username instead.
Sounds simple. India’s government isn’t convinced.
On June 29, Meta announced that WhatsApp would begin a phased global rollout of usernames. Users would be able to reserve a unique handle, similar to Instagram or Telegram, and eventually message people without revealing their phone number at all.
The feature isn’t live yet in India. But WhatsApp has already started letting users reserve their preferred usernames ahead of the full launch.
That was enough to get India’s IT Ministry involved.
The government has sent a formal notice to WhatsApp, asking the company to explain the feature in detail within three days. Until that explanation is reviewed and the government’s concerns are addressed, WhatsApp has been told not to roll out usernames in India at all.
Why is the government worried?
The core concern is simple: phone numbers, whatever their flaws, are traceable. Usernames aren’t.
Right now, if someone messages you on WhatsApp, you can usually get a rough sense of who they are from their number. Officials worry that once usernames take over, that thin layer of accountability disappears.
The notice specifically flags the risk of impersonation. A scammer could create a username that looks almost identical to a real bank, a government department, or even a well-known individual. Someone typing quickly, or simply not paying close attention, could easily be fooled.
This isn’t a hypothetical for India. The country already deals with a large volume of phishing attempts, fake customer-care numbers, and so-called “digital arrest” scams, where fraudsters impersonate police or government officials to frighten victims into transferring money. Officials worry that usernames could make these scams easier to run, not harder.
The government’s notice also cites India’s Telecom Cyber Security Rules, 2024, which require messaging platforms to maintain strict verification tied to a real, registered mobile number. A feature that lets people message each other without ever seeing that number sits awkwardly next to those rules.
This isn’t happening in isolation
The timing matters here. Just weeks earlier, Telegram faced a temporary ban in India after being linked to the leak and sale of NEET-UG medical entrance exam papers. Features like usernames and message editing were part of the scrutiny then too.
Seen together, a pattern starts to emerge. Indian regulators are increasingly uneasy about messaging apps that let people interact with strangers while staying anonymous, especially at the scale WhatsApp operates in India. With more than 500 million users, WhatsApp is the platform’s single largest market in the world. Any change here doesn’t just affect a niche group of early adopters, it potentially touches nearly half the population.
What Meta says
Meta hasn’t pushed back publicly against the government’s concerns. Instead, it has pointed to the safeguards it says are already in place.
A WhatsApp spokesperson said the company has reserved usernames for high-profile figures, including public officials, celebrities, government entities, and verified Meta accounts, so that ordinary users can’t claim those identities first.
The company has also clarified that the feature isn’t actually functional yet. Right now, users can only reserve a username. The ability to actually message someone using that username, without their phone number, is expected to roll out gradually later this year, in markets where it’s approved.
For now, that gradual rollout doesn’t include India.
WhatsApp has three days to respond with a detailed explanation, backed by documentation, on how it plans to prevent misuse. If the government isn’t satisfied, it has the option to pursue further regulatory action under India’s IT Act and related digital rules.
Entrepreneur Ankur Warikoo, among others, has already flagged the risk publicly, warning that without strong anti-abuse systems, the feature “could be a disaster” in a country as large and digitally active as India.
Whether that turns out to be true will depend on what Meta shows the government in the coming days, and how convincing its safeguards really are.
For now, one thing is clear. A feature designed to protect user privacy has run straight into a government that isn’t willing to take that protection on faith.
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