India working on tighter regulations for VPN providers
06 Jul 2026, 01:24 PMThe proposed framework could require VPN companies to establish a local presence in India, appoint compliance officers and designate officials to coordinate with government agencies.
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The Indian government is working on a new legal framework to bring virtual private network (VPN) providers under stricter regulatory oversight amid concerns over their use to bypass content restrictions and app-blocking orders, according to a report by The Indian Express.
The proposed framework could require VPN companies to establish a local presence in India, appoint compliance officers and designate officials to coordinate with government agencies. It may also introduce penalties for non-compliance, including legal liability for locally appointed representatives.
The proposed rules are expected to mirror compliance obligations imposed on social media intermediaries under the Information Technology Rules, 2021. The move follows concerns that several global VPN providers have not complied with the cybersecurity data-retention directions issued by CERT-In in 2022.
VPNs enable users to mask their IP addresses and route internet traffic through servers in other countries, allowing them to bypass geo-blocking measures and content restrictions. The government is seeking local points of contact to improve enforcement of its orders.
The report comes after VPN usage surged during the temporary restrictions on Telegram in India last month, with downloads of leading VPN apps reportedly rising nearly 50% to more than 200,000 a day.
The proposal also revives the debate over CERT-In's 2022 directive requiring VPN providers, cloud service providers and virtual private server operators to retain customer information, including contact details, IP addresses and usage records, for at least five years. Several major VPN companies opposed the mandate, citing conflicts with their no-logs privacy policies, while some shifted their infrastructure outside India and began serving users through virtual servers.
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