Zoho-backed Arattai, an India-based messaging app, will disable its username-based accounts feature, founder Sridhar Vembu said on X.

He said the move is intended to comply with regulatory changes as India increases scrutiny of features that let users connect without sharing phone numbers.

The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology gave Meta three days to answer a July 1 letter and pause WhatsApp’s username rollout pending government approval.

The notice cited the Information Technology Act, 2000, and the Information Technology Rules, 2021.

The ministry also contacted Telegram and Signal, which already allow username-based communication without sharing mobile numbers.

The Internet Freedom Foundation criticized the government’s case-by-case notices as lacking clear legal grounding.

WhatsApp says users can already reserve usernames ahead of a later rollout, but the feature remains optional, still requires phone number registration, and has no public directory or username search.

🔗 Source: Sridhar Vembu