India's temporary ban on Telegram, implemented due to exam-related fraud concerns, has led to a significant increase in the use of VPNs and alternative messaging apps.
VPN Usage Surges
According to Appfigures, VPN downloads in India saw unprecedented increases. Downloads of major VPN apps rose 49% on the day the restriction was announced, jumping from an average of 139,000 to 208,000. Proton VPN and Turbo VPN were among those seeing notable upticks. Proton VPN's downloads on Apple's App Store surged 113%, while Turbo VPN observed an 85% increase. On Google Play, Proton VPN downloads grew by 64% and Turbo VPN by 35%. NordVPN and ExpressVPN also saw increased downloads.
The rise in demand propelled Proton VPN to climb from 18th to 5th in Apple's Utilities rankings, while on Google Play it rose from 8th to 2nd in the Tools category.
Government and Legal Response
The Indian government restricted Telegram until June 22 to combat fraud involving fake exam papers for the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET), the country's largest entrance exam. Telegram has disputed the ban in the Delhi High Court, advocating for targeting specific content instead of a platform-wide block. Government officials argued the restriction was temporary and event-specific, linked to the NEET re-test.
On Thursday, the Delhi High Court reserved its order after hearing arguments from both sides, with a verdict expected on Friday.
Alternative Apps and User Behavior
In addition to VPNs, users explored other messaging apps. Signal downloads increased 72% on Apple's App Store and 322% on Google Play. Viber's App Store downloads rose 216%. Meanwhile, iMe, a Telegram-linked app, saw its Google Play downloads spike from an average of 827 to 50,900 on June 16.
Despite the restriction, Telegram's daily active users in India increased by 17% following the announcement, marking the largest day-over-day increase since a major Meta services outage in 2021.
DNS Traffic Increase
Cloudflare reported a sharp increase in DNS requests for Telegram domains in India. While this indicates heightened efforts to access the platform, it does not necessarily reflect successful access, as users may have repeatedly attempted to reach Telegram after it was blocked.
Rebecca Rosenberg from Windscribe noted that such spikes in VPN usage often occur when specific apps are banned or internet access is restricted, echoing similar patterns seen in other countries like Iran and Russia.
Source: https://techcrunch.com/2026/06/18/telegram-ban-in-india-sparks-a-rush-to-vpns-rival-apps/
