Meta-owned WhatsApp has submitted its response to the Centre's notice over its proposed username feature, and the government is examining the reply, reported news agency PTI citing sources on Thursday.
The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) had issued a notice to Meta last week, raising concerns that the feature could lead to a rise in online fraud, phishing, digital-arrest scams and impersonation attacks. The government also directed WhatsApp not to roll out the feature until consultations on the issue were completed to its satisfaction.
Sources told PTI that WhatsApp's reply had been received by the IT Ministry and was currently under examination.
There was no official statement from WhatsApp on Thursday regarding the submission.
Earlier in the day, IT Secretary S Krishnan, speaking on the sidelines of the CII GCC Business Summit, had said WhatsApp's response was due on Thursday.
Asked whether Telegram and Signal had replied to similar notices issued over their existing username features, Krishnan said, "There is still a little more time, so the replies have not yet been received.... We will examine this issue."
The Centre had sent notices to Telegram and Signal after writing to WhatsApp, seeking details on how the platforms address concerns related to fraud and impersonation linked to username-based messaging.
Last Friday, a Meta delegation met officials of the IT Ministry following the government's notice.
In its notice, the government asked Meta to explain why action should not be initiated under the Information Technology Act and related rules over WhatsApp's proposed username feature, which it said could potentially increase cybercrime. It also reminded the company of its due diligence obligations as a significant social media intermediary under the IT Act.
A WhatsApp spokesperson had said last week that the username feature was not yet live and would be rolled out gradually later this year.
"To protect against impersonation, we have 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," the spokesperson had said.
The company had clarified that users would still need a phone number to use WhatsApp and said it had built multiple safeguards against scams involving usernames.
"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," it had said.
WhatsApp also said users would be shown whether a first-time sender was a new account, an existing contact, someone from a mutual group or based in another country before deciding whether to respond.
The scrutiny over the username feature comes amid broader regulatory action against major messaging platforms. While the government recently issued a notice to Meta over child sexual abuse material appearing in Instagram advertisements, Telegram was directed to curb the widespread circulation of pirated films, OTT content and other audio-visual material on its platform.
(With inputs from PTI)
