The Indian government has asked Meta to suspend the rollout of WhatsApp’s new username feature in the country, citing fears that it could fuel online fraud, phishing and identity impersonation.
The request comes as authorities intensified efforts to combat a sharp rise in cybercrime, with scammers increasingly taking advantage of low levels of digital literacy among millions of internet users.
LEADERSHIP reports that Meta, the parent company of WhatsApp, announced earlier this week that the messaging platform would introduce unique usernames, allowing users to connect without sharing their phone numbers. The company said the feature was aimed at improving user privacy and is expected to be rolled out globally.
However, India, WhatsApp’s largest market with more than 500 million users, has expressed reservations about the update.
According to a report by the Indian Express, India’s Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology wrote to Meta on Wednesday, warning that the feature could create new opportunities for cybercriminals to carry out phishing attacks, impersonation scams and other forms of online fraud.
The ministry reportedly urged the technology company to postpone the launch until consultations with the government were concluded.
“There is a possibility that bad actors may claim usernames and message other users while pretending to be someone they are not,” a senior government official was quoted as saying.
“For those who may not be technologically aware to make out the difference, it could be a huge challenge.”
Responding to the concerns, Meta said the username feature has not yet been launched in India and stressed that several safeguards have been built into the system to prevent misuse.
The company said usernames linked to public figures and verified accounts have already been reserved to prevent impersonation.
“To protect against impersonation, we’ve held the highest-profile names so they can only ever be claimed by their legitimate owners,” Meta said in a statement.
The company also noted that users would still need a valid phone number to register for WhatsApp and that additional security measures have been integrated into the username system to detect and prevent scams.
The development comes just weeks after Meta appointed Indian fintech entrepreneur Kunal Shah as the new head of WhatsApp.
The username feature is already available on WeChat, the messaging platform owned by Chinese technology company Tencent.
India has witnessed a significant increase in cybercrime in recent years as the country’s rapid digital expansion has outpaced public awareness of online safety.
Official figures show that Indians lost nearly $3 billion to cyber fraud in 2025—almost 40 times the amount recorded in 2021, highlighting the growing scale of digital scams across the country.
