The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) has issued a notice to Meta over the proposed rollout of WhatsApp's "usernames" feature in India, directing the company to submit a detailed explanation of the feature within three days, government sources told HT.The directive comes amid concerns within the government over the feature's potential implications. (Pixabay)The government has also directed Meta not to roll out the usernames feature in India until consultations on the matter are completed.The directive comes amid concerns within the government over the feature's potential implications, including risks of impersonation, fraud and its impact on law enforcement investigations.WhatsApp respondsA WhatsApp spokesperson issued a clarification after the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology raised concerns over the rollout of the username feature in India.“We’ve announced the option for people to reserve their preferred username on WhatsApp. The ability to use a username is not yet live and will roll out slowly later this year.To protect against impersonation, we’ve held the highest-profile names, think public figures, government entities, celebrities, and verified Meta accounts—so they can only ever be claimed by their legitimate owners. Lookalike derivatives of known names are held as well.Users still require a phone number to use WhatsApp, and we’ve built multiple layers of defence against scams into 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.When the feature becomes available and someone sends you a message for the first time via your username, we will show you if they’re a new account, if they’re your contact, if you have groups in common, and if they’re based in a different country, so you can decide whether to respond.”Also Read: How does WhatsApp's new username feature work? Here's how you can chat without phone numberFraud, impersonation risksThe statement comes shortly after officials from the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) and Delhi Police flagged concerns that usernames could allow users to conceal their identities, making it harder for law enforcement agencies (LEAs) to trace suspects.A Department of Telecommunications official said the feature could be exploited by fraudsters to impersonate government officials and carry out scams.“The larger issue is that it will become difficult for law enforcement agencies (LEAs) to determine whether the perpetrator is in India or overseas. Tomorrow, someone could create a WhatsApp account using a +1 (US) number, use the NIA chief’s photograph, adopt a similar username and make fraudulent calls. Earlier, if the number began with +91, we could at least initiate action. If the number isn’t available, there is virtually no way to resolve it,” the official said on condition of anonymity.