Zoho’s Arattai to drop username based account feature amid WhatsApp controversy, cites regulatory change
Follow UsZoho co-founder Sridhar Vembu has announced that Arattai will remove its username-based account feature.
The announcement came after the government asked Meta to pause WhatsApp’s username rollout.
Vembu said the company would make the change to comply with what he described as a regulatory change.
Zoho co-founder Sridhar Vembu has announced that Arattai will remove its username-based account feature after the government asked Meta to pause WhatsApp’s username rollout in India. Sharing the update on X, Vembu said the company would make the change to comply with what he described as a “regulatory change.” While Sridhar Vembu has cited a regulatory change for this update, there has been no such announcement or notification from the government. Nor was there an existing regulatory framework for username-based accounts. The decision seems influenced by the government’s decision to act against WhatsApp, Telegram and Signal over privacy concerns.
SurveyArattai to drop username-based account feature
In a post on X, Vembu wrote, “We will be disabling the user name based account feature in Arattai, to comply with the regulatory change.” “Thank you.”
Arattai is Zoho’s messaging platform. Although the company has confirmed the decision, it has not announced a timeline for removing the feature.
We will be disabling the user name based account feature in Arattai, to comply with the regulatory change.
— Sridhar Vembu (@svembu) July 2, 2026
Thank you 🙏
Why WhatsApp’s username rollout was paused
The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) has asked Meta to pause the rollout of WhatsApp usernames in India. According to the authorities, usernames could make it easier for scammers to hide their identities because people would no longer need to share phone numbers to connect. Officials have also raised concerns that usernames similar to those of real people, government departments or trusted organisations could be misused for phishing and impersonation scams.
WhatsApp responded to the concerns
WhatsApp has defended the feature, saying it is optional and users will not be able to search for other people simply by entering a username. “Just like you can’t search for a phone number in WhatsApp, you can’t search for a username,” the company said in a post on X.
It added that users should choose a unique username and enable a username key for extra security. WhatsApp also clarified that messaging through usernames has not been launched yet. When it becomes available, users will see details before replying to a new contact. These will include the sender’s country, whether the account is new and if both users are part of the same groups.
The company also said that names of public figures, celebrities, government organisations and Meta Verified accounts have been reserved for their legitimate owners to reduce impersonation.
Responding to reports about username reservations, WhatsApp said, “People are making false claims about reserving popular or well-known usernames – this isn’t true.” “We enabled reservations before usernames launch later this year because we think people will feel strongly about what username they want on WhatsApp. We’re taking our time and listening to feedback so that when it rolls out later this year we get it right.”
