New Delhi, July 1 -- The Centre issued a notice to Meta on Wednesday, July 1, over the controversial phased rollout of the username feature on WhatsApp in India. Citing potential risks, the government warned the platform not to roll out the feature until consultations on the issue are completed.

In its notice, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology notes that the new usernames feature will permit existing and new users on WhatsApp to reserve unique usernames. Upon full activation, the feature allows them to initiate and conduct conversations by exchanging usernames alone, without disclosing their mobile telephone numbers, it say.

The ministry warned that WhatsApp's new username feature could facilitate impersonation, fra...