India’s Telegram Block Triggers Surge in VPN Downloads and Messaging Alternatives

India’s temporary restriction on the messaging platform Telegram sparked a sharp rise in downloads of virtual private networks (VPNs) and competing messaging apps as users sought ways to stay connected during the week-long block.

App intelligence firm Appfigures told TechCrunch that Tuesday, when India announced the Telegram restriction, became the biggest day for VPN app downloads in the country since at least the beginning of 2025. Downloads of leading VPN apps increased 49%, rising from a recent daily average of 139,000 to 208,000.

Among the biggest beneficiaries were Proton VPN and Turbo VPN. On Apple’s App Store in India, Proton VPN downloads surged 113%, while Turbo VPN climbed 85%. On Google Play, Proton VPN downloads increased by 64%, and Turbo VPN rose by 35%. NordVPN recorded a 41% increase on Apple’s App Store, while ExpressVPN downloads on Google Play were up 31%.

The surge also lifted several VPN providers in India’s app rankings. According to Appfigures, Proton VPN moved from 18th to 5th in Apple’s Utilities category between June 16 and June 18, while climbing from 8th to 2nd in Google Play’s Tools category.

The spike followed the Indian government’s decision to restrict Telegram until June 22, citing concerns that fraudsters were using the platform to target students ahead of the retest of the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (Undergraduate), the country’s largest entrance examination by applicant volume. Officials said the temporary measure was intended to curb the circulation of fake exam papers and related scams. Telegram challenged the order in the Delhi High Court, arguing that authorities should remove specific content rather than block the entire platform. The court upheld the restriction on Friday.

The increase in demand extended beyond app downloads. Proton said registrations from India rose 120% above normal levels on Wednesday after hourly sign-ups had already jumped 150% on Tuesday evening following the restriction. The company described the increase as especially significant given its existing user base in India.

Canadian VPN provider Windscribe reported a similar trend, saying sign-ups from India peaked about 100% above normal levels, while first-time downloads of its iOS app increased roughly 89%.

“The spike in India follows the same general trend we see in areas that ban specific apps, introduce age bans or verification requirements, or otherwise restrict internet access,” said Rebecca Rosenberg, Growth Operations Manager at Windscribe.

Surfshark also reported increased demand, saying connectivity from India rose by approximately 30% after the restriction was announced.

The trend was not limited to a few providers. Sensor Tower told TechCrunch that VPN app downloads across India increased 10% day-over-day on June 17, reversing the decline seen over the previous two weeks.

“Spikes in demand for VPNs tend to follow any kind of platform restriction, regardless of the reason behind it,” said Laura Tyrylyte, Privacy Advocate at NordVPN. She added that when access to an essential platform is suddenly restricted, users quickly begin searching for alternatives.

Tyrylyte also noted that the response suggests Indian users are becoming increasingly familiar with VPNs and other circumvention tools, allowing them to react more quickly to internet restrictions than in previous years.

Alternative messaging apps also experienced significant growth. Appfigures reported that Signal downloads in India increased by 72% on Apple’s App Store and by 322% on Google Play after the restriction, while Viber’s downloads on the App Store jumped by 216%.

Telegram-linked messaging app iMe recorded one of the largest increases. According to Appfigures, its Google Play downloads rose from an average of around 827 per day to approximately 50,900 on June 16.

Despite the restriction, Telegram usage did not immediately decline. Sensor Tower said the platform’s daily active users in India increased 17% on the day the restriction was announced, marking its largest single-day growth in the country since Meta experienced a widespread outage in 2021.

Cloudflare Radar also reported a sharp increase in DNS requests for Telegram domains from India during the two days following the restriction. However, the company noted that higher DNS traffic does not necessarily indicate successful access, as it may simply reflect repeated attempts by users trying to reach the blocked platform.

During hearings in the Delhi High Court, Telegram said it had cooperated with authorities by removing channels identified by the government and questioned the need for a platform-wide restriction affecting more than 150 million users in India.

Government lawyers defended the temporary measure, arguing that it was directly linked to the NEET retest. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta told the court that while a permanent ban could raise proportionality concerns, the temporary restriction had a clear connection to preventing exam-related fraud. The court ultimately ruled on Friday that authorities had followed the required legal process given the emergency circumstances.

According to Surfshark’s Internet Shutdown Tracker, Telegram is currently blocked in 13 countries and has experienced disruptions in at least 40 others over the years.

Such restrictions have frequently been followed by increased demand for VPN services. Sensor Tower noted that VPN downloads in the United States rose more than 40% week over week when TikTok was briefly removed from U.S. app stores in 2025, while Windscribe said it has observed similar patterns following internet restrictions in countries including Iran and Russia.