Meta will submit a detailed explanation sought by India over WhatsApp's username feature, sources said, after officials from Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology met the Meta team on Friday.

People walk behind a logo of Meta Platforms company, during a conference in Mumbai. (REUTERS)

Ministry officials sensitised them about the government's concern relating to the feature. As the timeline for furnishing the detailed explanation on the “usernames” feature is for 3 days, they will submit their final reply as per the schedule, the officials told HT.

The meeting was held following the government's notice over the proposed rollout of the "usernames" feature on WhatsApp in India, sources said.

Earlier this week, the Union Government issued a notice to Meta directing it to provide a detailed explanation on the proposed "usernames" feature within three days.

According to sources, the government has also directed Meta not to roll out the feature in India until consultations on the matter are completed.

The move comes after privacy and safety concerns were raised over the feature, particularly regarding the possibility of impersonation and misuse.

According to Meta, a username is an optional and unique identifier that users can choose for their WhatsApp account. Beginning with the "@" symbol, the username can be used by others to message or call a user without revealing the person's phone number.

Meta has said the username is different from a display name, which appears on a user's profile. While display names do not have to be unique, usernames are unique to each account.

The company also stated that people who do not have a user's phone number saved will see the username by default when interacting through direct messages, calls or group chats. Certain usernames will be reserved for businesses, governments and public figures and cannot be claimed by others.