The Indian government's decision to temporarily restrict access to messaging app Telegram has led to a significant surge in VPN downloads and usage of rival messaging apps. According to app intelligence firm Appfigures, Tuesday marked the biggest day for VPN app downloads in India since at least the start of 2025, with major VPN apps recording a 49% increase in downloads.
Proton VPN and Turbo VPN recorded some of the largest increases, with downloads of Proton VPN on Apple's App Store jumping 113% and Turbo VPN downloads rising 85%. On Google Play, downloads of Proton VPN climbed 64% and Turbo VPN downloads increased 35%. NordVPN's App Store downloads increased 41%, while ExpressVPN downloads on Google Play rose 31%.
The surge also pushed several VPN services up India's app store charts. Proton VPN climbed from 18th to 5th in Apple's Utilities rankings between June 16 and June 18, while its Google Play ranking rose from 8th to 2nd in the Tools category, according to Appfigures.
Users are also turning to rival messaging apps to circumvent the ban. Signal saw a 72% increase in downloads on Apple's App Store and a 322% increase on Google Play, while Viber's App Store downloads increased 216%.
However, the restriction did not immediately translate into lower Telegram usage. Sensor Tower reported that downloads across the VPN app category in India rose 10% day-over-day on June 17, reversing a decline seen over the previous two weeks.
Expert commentators believe that users are becoming increasingly familiar with circumvention tools and are reacting more quickly to online restrictions than in the past. 'Spikes in demand for VPNs tend to follow any kind of platform restriction, regardless of the reason behind it,' said Laura Tyrylyte, a privacy advocate at NordVPN.