In a recent move, India suspended access to the Telegram messaging app for one week, raising alarms regarding potential examination fraud, leading many users to seek alternative communication methods via virtual private networks (VPNs) and other messaging services.
According to Appfigures, a company specializing in app analytics, the day India enforced the Telegram ban saw a remarkable spike in VPN downloads, marking it as the highest number since January 2025. Downloads surged by 49%, from a daily average of 139,000 to 208,000.
Notably, Proton VPN and Turbo VPN experienced significant growth in downloads. Proton VPN saw a 113% increase on Apple’s App Store, while Turbo VPN’s downloads rose by 85%. On Android, Proton VPN gained a 64% uptick, and Turbo VPN increased by 35%. Other VPN services like NordVPN and ExpressVPN also saw growth, with increases of 41% and 31% respectively.
The increased demand for VPNs propelled several services up the app store rankings in India. Proton VPN advanced from 18th to 5th place in Apple’s Utilities section, while its Google Play position ascended from 8th to 2nd in the Tools category between June 16 and June 18.
The Telegram ban was implemented due to concerns that fraudsters were using the platform to deceive candidates preparing for the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (Undergraduate), which is India’s largest entrance exam. Authorities claimed the action was necessary to curtail the distribution of counterfeit exam papers and related scams. Telegram has contested this restriction in court, asserting that the government should focus on specific content instead of outright blocking the platform.
The surge in VPN registration was pronounced, as Proton VPN reported a 120% increase in daily signups from India on Wednesday, following a 150% spike in hourly registrations on Tuesday. The company described this trend as highly significant given its user base in India.
Windscribe, a Canadian VPN service, noted a similar phenomenon, indicating that signups from India increased by nearly 100% above baseline levels, with first-time downloads of its iOS app rising by around 89%.
Rebecca Rosenberg, Windscribe’s growth operations manager, remarked that this increase mirrors trends seen in regions where specific apps are banned or where access restrictions are imposed.
The trend of increased VPN usage wasn’t confined to a select few providers either. Sensor Tower reported a 10% rise in VPN app downloads in India on June 17, reversing a prior two-week downward trend.
Many users were also seeking alternatives to Telegram. Appfigures noted that Signal app downloads spiked by 72% on the Apple App Store and surged by 322% on Google Play. Similarly, Viber saw a 216% increase in downloads on the App Store.
Another messaging app, iMe, linked to Telegram, experienced one of the sharpest increases, with its Google Play downloads soaring from an average of 827 daily to 50,900 on June 16, according to Appfigures.
Interestingly, despite the ban, there was no immediate decrease in Telegram’s user activity. Sensor Tower indicated a 17% increase in daily active users for Telegram in India on the day of the announcement, marking its highest day-over-day growth since a major Meta outage in 2021.
Moreover, additional analyses indicated a rise in attempts to access Telegram following the ban. Lai Yi Ohlsen from Cloudflare Radar reported a significant uptick in DNS requests for Telegram addresses in India over the two days post-announcement. However, the increase in DNS traffic does not guarantee successful access to Telegram and might represent users repeatedly attempting to connect after the ban.
During hearings in the Delhi High Court, Telegram representatives emphasized their willingness to cooperate with the authorities, noting that they had already removed flagged channels. They questioned the rationale behind enforcing a blanket restriction that impacts over 150 million users in India.
In response, government lawyers justified the ban as a necessary temporary measure directly linked to the NEET re-test. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta articulated that while a permanent ban could be problematic, the current restriction was logically aligned with its intended goal.
After hearing both sides, the Delhi High Court has reserved its decision and is anticipated to announce its ruling soon.
This ongoing situation reflects larger global concerns regarding government-imposed restrictions on digital platforms. For instance, Sensor Tower noted similar spikes in VPN app downloads in the U.S. during the brief removal of TikTok from app stores in 2025, while Windscribe documented comparable trends following restrictions in countries such as Iran and Russia.
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