Several of VPN applications, including Cloudflare’s popular 1.1.1.1 app, have been removed from app stores following government orders, marking the first major enforcement of India’s 2022 VPN regulations.
The Ministry of Home Affairs directed Apple and Google to pull more than half a dozen VPN apps from their respective stores, according to documents reviewed by TechCrunch. Affected services include Hide.me and PrivadoVPN, alongside Cloudflare’s widely-used offering.
The removals stem from the government’s 2022 cybersecurity framework, which requires VPN providers to maintain detailed customer records, including names, addresses, and IP addresses, for five years. Apple cited a “demand” from the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Center in its communication with affected developers, TechCrunch reported.
This enforcement follows earlier resistance from major VPN providers. When the rules were announced in 2022, companies like NordVPN, ExpressVPN, and SurfShark expressed strong opposition, with some removing their server infrastructure from India. While these providers continue serving Indian customers, they have ceased marketing their apps within the country.
The regulations, which went into effect in mid-2022, apply to virtual private server providers, cloud services, and VPN operators, though corporate and enterprise VPNs are exempt. At the time of implementation, IT Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar stated that providers unwilling to comply with the new rules would need to exit the market.
Neither the Ministry of Home Affairs nor Apple and Google, have responded to requests for comment on the recent removals.
