New Delhi: Meta has been directed by the Government of India to put its plans to rollout WhatsApp’s “usernames” feature in India on hold until consultations on the matter are completed.

The company has been asked to furnish a detailed explanation on the feature within three days, sources told Bussiness.

There was much enthusiasm after WhatsApp announced this feature that would allow users to create usernames and be contacted without sharing their phone numbers. Users would soon be able to reserve unique usernames before the feature is launched more widely later this year, Meta has announced.

While the company believes this will aid in more private and less intrusive communications, the government wants to scrutinise the feature’s implications for user identification and platform safety. It is looking into possible risks linked to impersonation and misuse through username-based communication.

WhatsApp says it has more than three billion users globally and has relied on phone numbers as the main way to connect.

The upcoming feature is “designed to protect the privacy of your phone number,” the company said in a statement.

This comes as Indian fintech founder Kunal Shah takes charge of Meta’s WhatsApp, with the company looking to tap into the platform’s vast global reach and evolve it into a “superapp” to capture a larger share of fast-growing online payments, as reported by NDTV.