Mumbai: Instant messaging and voice-over-IP service WhatsApp has banned more than 1.75 million accounts in India, while it received 602 grievance reports, according to its compliance report for November 2021. An Indian account is identified by a +91 phone number.

The social media intermediary has published its sixth monthly report in accordance with the IT Rules 2021 which contains the details of the users’ complaints received and the corresponding action taken by WhatsApp, as well as the messaging service’s preventative actions to combat abuse on the platform.

The company had previously stated that 95 per cent of the account bans are due to unauthorised use of automated or bulk messaging (spam), according to a report by PTI. In October, the messaging service banned over two million accounts and registered 500 grievance reports.

In its latest report, the company revealed that out of 602 grievance reports, 149 users requested account support, 357 were ban appeals, 21 were other support, 48 were product support and 27 were for safety. Based on the reports received, the company took remedial action against 36 accounts that were flagged under ban appeals.

The IT Rules 2021 which came into effect in May 2021 require digital platforms with over five million users to publish compliance reports every month, detailing complaints received and action taken.