The Meta-owned messaging platform unveiled the feature last week, allowing users to create unique usernames so they can connect with others without revealing their phone numbers.

The company described the change as a significant privacy enhancement designed to give users greater control over their personal information, particularly when joining group chats with people they do not know.

However, India's Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology has ordered WhatsApp to suspend the rollout while officials assess whether the feature could unintentionally make it easier for criminals to target users.

India is WhatsApp's largest market, with more than 850 million users, and the platform removes around 10 million accounts every month over suspected scams and policy violations.

The ministry warned the new feature "may materially increase the incidence of online fraud, phishing, digital arrest scams and impersonation attacks".

WhatsApp had planned to introduce usernames to its estimated 3.3 billion users worldwide over the coming months.

Announcing the feature, the company said: "Usernames are our latest step to make WhatsApp even more private.

"There's no directory to browse and no suggestions – people will need to know your exact username to contact you for the first time."

The company said phone numbers remain "personal [and] tied to so many parts of your life", adding that usernames would allow users to protect that information when messaging strangers.

Responding to the regulator's concerns, WhatsApp stressed that phone numbers will still be required to create an account and that multiple safeguards have been built into the system.

A spokesperson said: "To protect against impersonation, we've 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.

"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."

The company has not confirmed when the username feature will resume rolling out while discussions with Indian authorities continue.