As India shuts down access to the messaging app for a week over concerns about test-related fraud, users are turning to virtual private networks (VPNs) and other messaging apps in unusually large numbers.
App intelligence firm Appfigures told TechCrunch that Tuesday, the day India announced the Telegram restrictions, marked the biggest day of VPN app downloads in the country since at least early 2025. Downloads of major VPN apps rose 49% from the latest daily average of 139,000 to 208,000, the company said.
Proton VPN and Turbo VPN recorded some of the biggest increases. Downloads of Proton VPN on Apple’s App Store in India jumped by 113%, while downloads of Turbo VPN increased by 85%. On Google Play, Proton VPN downloads increased by 64% and Turbo VPN downloads increased by 35%. App Store downloads for NordVPN increased by 41%, while ExpressVPN downloads on Google Play increased by 31%.
This surge also pushed many VPN services up the Indian app store charts. Proton VPN rose from 18th to 5th place in Apple’s Utilities rankings between June 16 and June 18, while its Google Play ranking rose from 8th to 2nd place in the Tools category, according to Appfigures.
The surge in VPN demand followed India’s decision to temporarily restrict Telegram until June 22 due to concerns that fraudsters are using the platform to target candidates ahead of the re-examination of the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (Undergraduate), the country’s largest entrance exam by applicant volume. The Indian government said the move was necessary to prevent the spread of fake exam papers and related scams. Telegram challenged the order in the Delhi High Court, saying authorities should target specific content rather than block the entire platform.
The answer extended beyond app store download data. Proton said daily subscriptions from India rose 120% over baseline levels on Wednesday, after hourly subscriptions rose 150% on Tuesday evening following Telegram’s limit. The company described the increase as “remarkable” given the current level in the country.
Canadian VPN service provider Windscribe reported a similar trend. The company told TechCrunch that sign-ups from India are up nearly 100% over baseline levels, while initial downloads of its iOS app in the country are up nearly 89%.
“Growth in India follows the general trend we see in places that ban certain apps, introduce age restrictions or verification requirements, or restrict access to the Internet,” said Rebecca Rosenberg, head of growth at Windscribe.
The trend is not limited to a few VPN providers. Sensor Tower told TechCrunch that downloads in the VPN app category in India increased by 10% day-to-day on June 17, reversing the decline seen two weeks ago.
Users were also seen exploring Telegram alternatives. Appfigures said downloads of Signal in India increased by 72% on Apple’s App Store and 322% on Google Play following the milestone, while downloads on Viber’s App Store increased by 216%.
Telegram-linked messaging app iMe recorded one of the sharpest jumps. Google Play’s downloads rose from a recent daily average of 827 to 50,900 on June 16, Appfigures said.
However the limitation did not immediately translate into lower Telegram usage. Sensor Tower said Telegram’s daily active users in India rose 17% on the day the measure was announced – the biggest day-to-day increase for the app in the country since the widespread shutdown of Meta services in 2021.
Some data points also suggest attempts to access Telegram following the limit.
Cloudflare Radar leader Lai Yi Ohlsen told TechCrunch that DNS requests for Telegram domains in India spiked two days after the measure was announced. The company warned that high DNS traffic does not indicate successful access to the platform, and may indicate users repeatedly trying to access Telegram after being blocked.
The Telegraph signaled its efforts to cooperate with authorities during a hearing in the Delhi High Court this week. Its lawyers said the company had removed the channels identified by authorities and questioned the need for a platform ban affecting what Telegram says are more than 150 million users in India.
Government lawyers have defended the measure as a temporary, event-related response to the NEET re-examination. Attorney General Tushar Mehta told the court that a permanent ban could raise equity concerns but said the current limit was “reasonably narrow” in its intended purpose.
After hearing arguments from Telegram and the government on Thursday, the Delhi High Court reserved its order and is expected to deliver its verdict on Friday.
The debate echoes questions raised elsewhere when governments restrict access to large online platforms. Sensor Tower said VPN downloads in the US rose more than 40% week-on-week while TikTok was briefly removed from US app stores in 2025, while Windscribe said it saw similar patterns following restrictions in countries including Iran and Russia.
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