The Centre will examine WhatsApp's upcoming username feature over concerns that it could be misused for impersonation and online fraud, government officials said on Wednesday.
According to officials, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) will assess the legal framework to determine whether action is required against the feature, which allows users to hide their phone numbers.
The review follows concerns raised by cybersecurity experts that the feature could be exploited by fraudsters to impersonate individuals and carry out scams.
Officials said the government will examine the legality of the functionality. If it is found to pose significant risks, MeitY could issue a legal notice to Meta, WhatsApp's parent company.
WhatsApp announced the feature on Monday, describing it as a privacy-focused update that will allow users to initiate conversations using a username instead of sharing their phone number.
The company said the feature will be optional for its more than three billion users and will be rolled out globally in phases over the coming months.
WhatsApp also said users will have additional privacy controls to decide who can contact them using their username.
Over the past two days, several users have received notifications inviting them to reserve their usernames before the feature becomes widely available.