WhatsApp bans over 45 lakh accounts in India, 12.93 lakh removed proactively
WhatsApp banned more than 45 lakh accounts in India during September 2026, according to its latest monthly compliance report under the Information Technology Rules, 2021. The company said 45,40,300 accounts linked to Indian phone numbers were banned between September 1 and September 30.
A large part of that action happened before users even filed complaints. WhatsApp said 12,93,500 accounts were proactively banned through its own detection systems. The company identifies an Indian account through a +91 phone number.
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Why did WhatsApp ban so many accounts?
WhatsApp says it uses systems that look for abuse at different stages of an account’s life. This includes registration, activity during messaging, and negative feedback such as user reports and blocks.
The company did not publish a break-up showing exactly how many accounts were banned for spam, scams, fraud, abuse or other violations. It said the action was taken against accounts that violated Indian laws or WhatsApp’s Terms of Service.
Nearly 38,000 grievances were filed
WhatsApp received 37,943 grievance reports from users in India during September. Of these, 695 accounts were actioned following complaints.
The biggest category was “Other support” with 19,267 reports, followed by 17,910 ban appeals. WhatsApp actioned 561 accounts under other support and 134 accounts under ban appeals.
Account support received 394 reports, product support received 228 and safety complaints stood at 114. No account action was recorded under those categories in the report.
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WhatsApp complied with all GAC orders
The company received 127 orders from the Grievance Appellate Committee during the month and said it complied with all 127.
The September numbers show the scale of automated enforcement on WhatsApp in India. Most bans came through the platform’s own detection systems rather than direct user complaints, with more than 12.9 lakh accounts removed proactively before any report was received.