India’s .in domain name extension is commonly included in corporate domain name portfolios and with good reason: India is a huge market, domains are reasonably priced and there’s no requirement to specify a local contact.
With such a popular product on their hands, why are registrars increasingly placing restrictions on .in, with Ascio going as far as blocking new registrations and transfers from non-Indian registrants? Is there something happening that could affect your clients’ ability to register new .in domains, or to maintain their existing .in portfolios?
We know that many of our clients are on registrars’ mailing lists, so given the tenor of announcements made about .in, we thought we’d take a moment to dispel the doomsday scenario and assist portfolio managers in assigning the proper level of attention.
Any recent or semi-recent announcements you may have read regarding .in likely have their root in one of two events:
First, in February it was announced that Tucows would replace GoDaddy as technical service provider for the .in registry.[1] Tucows owns Ascio, so this particular registrar’s move to restrict .in to local registrants may not be part of the generalized trend, but rather the dynamics involved with one parent company acting both as the registry’s technical service provider and accredited registrar.
The move to Tucows’ backend isn’t slated to occur until later this year, so any impact on operations at other registrars is still TBD. Just two weeks ago, Tucows and NIXI held joint meetings with registrars in three Indian cities to discuss the migration.[2] Usually these platform migrations aim to be virtually undetectable to the domain owner, so we would not be inclined to warn of any major changes arising from this.
The second event isn’t actually so recent: In 2021, India’s government authorized the .in registry to conduct KYC (Know Your Client) screening.[3] The registry then amended its Registrar Agreement to incorporate KYC and published a memorandum[4] with obligations and instructions for implementation.
In response, large international registrars began to stress KYC and the integrity of contact data, for example:
This TLD has strict contact verification requirements. You MUST provide verifiable contact information, or your domain may be suspended or deleted by the registry without warning or refund. (Openprovider)[5]
… we are required to ensure the authentication of the accuracy of the data…by verifying the information through KYC/eKYC methods both prior to the time of registration as well as prior to each renewal. (CentralNic Reseller)[6]
These policies give the impression that documents must be uploaded prior to each domain name registration, or even renewal. That has not proved to be the case.
In an amendment to the memorandum to registrars, the registry clarified that the KYC procedures would apply only to new registrants. Furthermore, the notion of re-validating registrants upon domain name renewal was described as the registry as “advisable,” as opposed to compulsory.
While the registry communication gives an outline of why KYC screening would not be required for certain operations, it does suggest that screening is mandatory for companies ordering their first .in domain. Screening of new registrants is indeed occurring, but not by means of a standardized process and not in all cases.
It remains possible to submit a registration for an .in domain, specifying a new registrant and without providing any ID numbers nor documentation. The domain is activated in real-time, with any KYC procedures occurring afterwards. According to user reports not verified by IP Twins, the KYC screening requirement is occasionally reported by the registrar, but more frequently from the registry itself. Likewise, serverHold status (suspension) may be implemented while the screening is incomplete, but not in all cases.
With the threat of domain suspension difficult to resolve in a transparent manner, IP Twins advises caution in launching a live website on a newly registered .in domain. If the project is critical and time-sensitive, you may request that your Account Manager contact the .in registry soon after registration and attempt to proactively complete KYC processes.
As for renewals, no particular action is suggested at this time. We have not faced any KYC screening requests arising from a renewal, nor were we able to locate anecdotal evidence (eg. user reports on domain forums) to suggest that this is happening on a wide basis, if at all.
Aside from the isolated case where a new registration may become business-critical, the main takeaway is that clients can continue managing their .in domains normally. Looking ahead, IP Twins will monitor the transition of .in to the Tucows technical platform and inform clients of any relevant updates to domain management procedures.
Notes
[1] Nicolai Bezsonoff, “Thanks for the Memories, NIXI”, Registry.godaddy. 2025-02-14.
[2] NIXI, Smooth Transition Ahead: TSP Migration Meetings, Facebook, 2025-04-07.
[3] Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, Notification allowing NIXI to perform Aadhaar authentication on voluntary basis in domain booking process, S.O. 69(E), published in the Gazette of India: Extraordinary, Part II, Section 3(ii), 30 December 2021.
[4] Letter from the National Internet Exchange of India to all registrars, registry.in, 2022-02-28.
