India’s Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) just forced WhatsApp to pause its upcoming username feature and sent parallel notices to Telegram and Signal demanding to know why they should be allowed to keep offering the same capability.
Why the Government Is Targeting Usernames — Not Just Phone Numbers
MeitY’s logic is straightforward: usernames let people connect without exposing a phone number, which means identity verification goes out the window. The ministry has asked both Telegram and Signal to detail how they handle fraud, impersonation, and cybercrime risks tied to usernames. For Telegram specifically, the government wants to know why it should continue offering the feature at all — that’s a direct threat to the platform’s core model. Signal, which has long positioned privacy as its moat, now has to show its safeguards are more than marketing copy. WhatsApp, for its part, argued that usernames are optional, non-searchable, and still require a phone number for registration. MeitY gave WhatsApp three days to prove that. The clock is ticking.
Telegram Already in the Crosshairs Over Exam Scams
This isn’t the first time Telegram has caught regulatory heat in India. Last month, MeitY temporarily restricted access to Telegram until June 22 ahead of the NEET-UG re-examination. The National Testing Agency alleged that organised cheating networks used Telegram channels to sell fake exam papers, spread misinformation, and exploit the message-editing feature to fabricate evidence of paper leaks. The Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C) coordinated the takedown of multiple channels, groups, and bots linked to the fraud. When you combine that track record with the username question, it’s clear the government views Telegram as a systemic risk, not just a technical one.
The First Casualty: Zoho’s Arattai Disables Username Feature
The regulatory pressure is already producing concrete actions. Zoho cofounder Sridhar Vembu announced that Arattai, the messaging app built by the SaaS giant, will disable its username-based account feature to comply with the shifting rules. That’s a practical signal to every other platform: even if you aren’t named in the notice today, the expectation is coming. MeitY’s review is no longer limited to WhatsApp; it now extends to any major messaging platform that uses usernames as a primary identifier. If you operate in India and let people chat without a phone number, you’d better have a fraud-deterrence story that holds up to scrutiny.
MeitY’s message is clear: if you let users hide behind a username, you own the fraud risk — and the next notice could be yours.
Source: Govt Sends Notices To Telegram & Signal Over Username Feature
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