India's decision to temporarily restrict access to messaging app Telegram due to concerns over exam-related fraud has led to a surge in demand for virtual private networks (VPNs) and alternative messaging apps. According to app intelligence firm Appfigures, Tuesday marked the biggest day for VPN app downloads in India since at least 2025, with major VPN apps seeing a 49% increase in downloads from their recent daily average of 139,000.
Proton VPN and Turbo VPN recorded significant increases in downloads, with Proton's Apple App Store downloads jumping 113% and Turbo's Google Play downloads rising 85%. NordVPN's App Store downloads increased 41%, while ExpressVPN's Google Play downloads rose 31%. The surge also pushed several VPN services up India's app store charts.
The restriction on Telegram, which was upheld by the Delhi High Court on Friday, has not immediately translated into lower usage for the platform. In fact, Sensor Tower reported that Telegram's daily active users in India rose 17% on the day the measure was announced. Other data points also suggest heightened efforts to access Telegram following the restriction, with Cloudflare Radar noting a sharp increase in DNS requests for Telegram domains in India over the two days after the measure was announced.
App downloads of alternative messaging apps such as Signal and Viber have also seen significant increases, with Signal's App Store downloads rising 72% and Viber's App Store downloads increasing 216%.
