India Targets Telegram and Signal After WhatsApp Username Hold

India’s Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology sent fresh notices to Telegram and Signal on July 2, 2026, widening a probe that began a day earlier with WhatsApp. Both platforms must now explain how their username features work and what safeguards they have in place against impersonation and misuse. MeitY directed Meta on Wednesday to freeze the rollout of WhatsApp’s upcoming username feature in India until consultations end.

WhatsApp’s username feature has not gone live yet and is still in the reservation stage. Telegram and Signal already run usernames for their users, and the new notices reach those live features with the same questions MeitY put to Meta on Wednesday. The reviews now span three of the largest encrypted messaging apps used in India, and one Indian rival has already started pulling its equivalent.

Notices Land on Telegram and Signal a Day After WhatsApp

MeitY’s notices to Telegram and Signal were issued on Thursday, July 2, 2026, and reported by ANI and other outlets citing government sources. The notices sent to Telegram and Signal ask both platforms to detail how their username features operate and how they police impersonation. The Telegram notice went a step further, asking the platform to explain why the feature should be allowed to continue at all.

Telegram has supported usernames for years, letting users chat without sharing phone numbers. Signal added usernames as an opt-in choice.

WhatsApp sits at a different point in the same review. The username feature is not yet live and will roll out slowly later this year, though WhatsApp’s reservation window that opened on June 29 made its preferred handles available to three billion users worldwide. A company spokesperson told Indian outlets that WhatsApp has built multiple layers of defence against scams, including reserving high-profile usernames for their legitimate owners.

The ability to use a username is not yet live and will roll out slowly later this year.

What the Government Wants From Each Platform

The notices cite India’s Information Technology Act, 2000 and the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021. WhatsApp was given three days from receipt of the notice to file a detailed, document-supported explanation and was told not to roll out its username feature until consultations were completed to the government’s satisfaction. Telegram and Signal were directed to furnish reports on the username feature and the measures taken to ensure safety. The legal hook is the same across all three platforms: features that may increase cybercrimes invite regulatory action.

MeitY’s stated worry is spelled out in the notice text. The ministry said the feature may “materially increase the incidence of online fraud, phishing, digital arrest scams and impersonation attacks” by enabling bad actors to solicit and message victims without revealing their phone numbers. It also warned that usernames could facilitate impersonation of individuals, public authorities, financial institutions, and government agencies by allowing usernames closely resembling genuine names.

The Safeguards WhatsApp Has Spelled Out

WhatsApp has spent the past two days publicising its defence-in-depth design. The feature is optional, usernames are not searchable, and a phone number is still required to create an account.

On impersonation, the company has reserved high-profile names, including public figures, government entities, celebrities, and Meta-verified accounts, for their legitimate owners and is holding lookalike derivatives as well. WhatsApp’s username key and reserved-name rules add an extra layer: an optional four-digit PIN that a contact must know alongside the username before they can message the user. WhatsApp says it also blocks repeated attempts to guess that key, limits how many new people an account can reach, and shows the country of origin plus a first-time contact warning when someone reaches out via username. Existing Instagram and Facebook usernames are reserved for their owners, and users will be able to change usernames later if their first choice is taken.

WhatsApp opened username reservations to its three billion global users ahead of the wider rollout later this year. Users who already hold an Instagram or Facebook username can claim the matching handle on WhatsApp by linking accounts.

Why MeitY Wants to Slow Username Rollouts

The notice language points to a specific fear. The ministry said allowing first contact without disclosing a phone number gives bad actors an easier path to victims. It links that change directly to digital arrest fraud, the category in which criminals impersonate Central Bureau of Investigation officers, judges, or customs officials over video and phone calls. Federal data in India shows nearly 102,000 cybercrime cases were registered in 2024, the latest year for which those numbers have been published.

That figure is up 18% from the previous year, and nearly three-quarters of those cases involved online fraud. India’s 2024 cybercrime case totals underline why MeitY treats the username feature as a likely accelerant of an existing pattern.

WhatsApp sits at the centre of that concern as India’s biggest messaging market, with more than 500 million active users. Telegram, freshly out of a week-long block tied to leaked NEET-UG examination papers in mid-June, brings its own regulatory baggage to the new notice. Signal, with a smaller Indian footprint, draws the same set of questions about identity verification and impersonation patterns.

The notice language reflects MeitY’s standing view that features affecting identity at the messaging layer invite extra scrutiny. WhatsApp has already responded to its notice with a series of public clarifications, and Meta’s filing deadline falls within days. Telegram and Signal have not yet commented publicly on the new notices. All three platforms must respond on the same underlying subject: how their username features police impersonation.

The Username Probe Now Spans Three Major Apps

What makes the second-day move notable is the speed and scope. Wednesday’s notice to Meta concerned a feature that does not yet exist for users. Thursday’s notices to Telegram and Signal concern features that have been live for years.

Telegram has run usernames since the mid-2010s; Signal added them more recently as an opt-in choice. Treating a not-yet-launched feature and two already-running features under the same review is a shift from product-by-product scrutiny to category-wide scrutiny.

The probe sits inside a broader push. In February 2026, India amended its intermediary rules to require social media platforms to remove unlawful content within three hours of being notified, replacing the previous 36-hour deadline. Telegram was banned in India for a week in mid-June over leaked NEET-UG examination papers, as covered in Telegram’s earlier India ban over the NEET-UG leaks, and resumed services after the ban period ended. The username review extends that posture from content takedowns to identity-layer features on encrypted messaging.

Arattai Hits Reverse, and Rights Groups Push Back

At least one Indian platform has already moved. Zoho co-founder and chief scientist Sridhar Vembu posted on X that Arattai will disable its username-based account feature to comply with the regulatory change. Sridhar Vembu disabling Arattai’s username accounts makes Arattai, the Chennai-built messaging app pitched as a domestic alternative, the first Indian service to publicly retreat from usernames in response to the review. Arattai had offered username sign-up alongside phone number sign-up. Vembu’s message did not specify a timeline for the change.

Digital rights group Internet Freedom Foundation has criticised the WhatsApp notice on legal grounds. The foundation said the order had “no clear basis in law” and argued that the power to require prior permission for a software feature is not granted to the government under the Information Technology Act or the 2021 rules. The criticism adds a parallel track: even as Telegram and Signal respond to MeitY’s questions, the legal foundation of the review is being contested in public.

The power to require prior permission for a feature is not in the [Information Technology] Act, not in the Rules, and cannot be created by a notice.

Where India’s Username Review Sits Now

WhatsApp has the most concrete deadline: a three-day window from receipt of the July 1 notice to file a detailed explanation, with the rollout paused until consultations are complete. Telegram and Signal are expected to respond on the same subject of how usernames operate and what safeguards are in place against impersonation.

The government has signalled that it will take a view after examining each platform’s reply. For now, WhatsApp’s username feature remains held back in India while the rest of the review plays out. Telegram and Signal are operating their existing username features, and Arattai has already begun pulling its equivalent.

MeitY’s question to Telegram is whether the feature should continue. MeitY’s question to Meta is whether the WhatsApp feature should launch at all. MeitY’s question to Signal is whether its optional feature can keep operating without additional checks. Each platform now has the same subject to answer on: how its username layer handles impersonation.

Frequently Asked Questions

What Is a Username on a Messaging App?

A username is an optional, unique identifier that starts with the @ symbol and lets people chat without sharing their phone number. Telegram has run usernames for years. Signal offers them as an opt-in. WhatsApp is preparing to roll them out in 2026 and opened reservations in late June.

Is WhatsApp’s Username Feature Live in India?

No. WhatsApp has opened reservations on the platform, but the feature itself is not yet live. MeitY has asked Meta not to roll it out in India until consultations with the government are complete.

Why Is the Indian Government Concerned About Usernames?

MeitY’s notice says usernames may “materially increase” online fraud, phishing, digital arrest scams, and impersonation by removing phone numbers from the first message. The worry is that bad actors will find it easier to pose as government officials, celebrities, or known contacts without a phone trail.

Will Telegram and Signal Have to Remove Usernames?

Not immediately. Both have been asked to explain how their username features work and what safeguards they have against impersonation. The notice to Telegram specifically asked why the feature should continue. Any further action depends on those responses.

What Is the “Username Key” WhatsApp Has Announced?

It is an optional four-digit PIN a user can enable alongside their username. A contact then needs both the username and the key to message them. WhatsApp says it also blocks repeated attempts to guess the key.