Govt grants Meta three more days to respond to notice on WhatsApp username feature

Mangalore Today News Network

New Delhi, Jul 7, 2026: The government granted technology giant and owner of WhatsApp messaging platform, Meta, three more days to submit its response to the concerns raised over its proposed ‘username’ feature.

Meanwhile, the technology giant assured the government that the feature will not roll out in India till all discussions are complete.

According to PTI, the popular messaging platform was granted three more days to submit its reply to the government notice on the username feature after it requested more time for submitting the response.

The new username feature rolled out by WhatsApp allows people on the messaging platform to connect with each other without sharing their phone numbers.

Centre Issues Notice To Meta Over Username Feature

The Centre issued a notice to Meta last Wednesday questioning its planned username feature on WhatsApp. The government had flagged concerns that this feature can materially increase online fraud, phishing, digital arrest scams, and impersonation attacks.

The government had directed WhatsApp to put the rollout of the new feature on a pause till all consultations regarding the concerns raised are completed “to the satisfaction of the government".

According to the PTI sources, WhatsApp has now been granted three more days to submit its reply to the IT Ministry. Earlier, it was given the deadline of Friday for the submission of the reply.

As per the source, the messaging platform has assured the government that the new feature will not be rolled out till all the discussions are complete.

After receiving the notice summoning them, a team from Meta met officials in the IT Ministry last Friday.

In the notice, the government had asked Meta to explain why they shouldn’t face any action under the IT Act and rules over the new feature of WhatsApp, which can increase cybercrimes.

The government also stated that WhatsApp, despite being a significant social media intermediary, is still bound by due diligence obligations under the IT Act and rules.

‘Username Feature Not Live Yet, Will Roll Out Slowly Later This Year’

Meanwhile, a WhatsApp spokesperson last week said that the username feature is not live yet and they will start rolling it out slowly later this year.

“To protect against impersonation, we’ve held the highest-profile names – think public figures, government entities, celebrities, verified Meta accounts – so they can only ever be claimed by their legitimate owners and lookalike derivatives of known names are held as well," said the spokesperson.

The company stated that users still needed a phone number to use WhatsApp and added that multiple layers of defence have been built by them to save users from scams.

“Other users need to know the exact username to message you. We will limit how many new people an account can contact, block repeated attempts to guess someone’s username key, and have systems to detect and remove activity showing common impersonation and abuse patterns," stated the company.

It added that WhatsApp will reflect whether a first-time sender is a new account, a contact, a mutual group member, or they are from another country before the users respond.

“When the feature becomes available, and someone sends a message for the first time via your username, we will show you if they’re a new account, if they’re your contact, if you have groups in common, and if they’re based in a different country, so you can decide whether to respond," WhatsApp stated.

After sending notice to WhatsApp, the IT Ministry also sent notices to Telegram and Signal questioning their existing username feature and asking how they have been addressing concerns related to fraud and impersonation risks.