Earlier this year, the Indian government established new IT rules for major social media companies such as Facebook, WhatsApp, and Twitter, among others. While there were reports that WhatsApp is suing the Indian government over privacy corners, it turns out that the messaging giant has complied with the rules and appointed a “Grievance Officer” named Paresh B Lal.
“As part of expanding our operations in India, we continue to work alongside government authorities to keep our users safe. We have appointed a Grievance Officer based in India, who can be contacted directly if a user has a concern about their WhatsApp experience and is unable to report it through other channels,” WhatsApp wrote on its website.
Contact WhatsApp’s Grievance Officer
WhatsApp has listed the name of the new grievance officer on its official Indian website. So, users can contact Lal through a post box in Banjara Hills in Hyderabad, Telangana. Other than that, users can also contact the grievance officer using email.
“To contact the Grievance Officer, please send an email with your complaint or concern and sign with an electronic signature. If you’re contacting us about a specific account, please include your phone number in full international format, including the country code,” says WhatsApp on its official FAQ page.
Plus, users can call WhatsApp between 7:00 AM and 8:00 PM IST at 1800-212-8552 for grievances related to UPI-based payments on the platform.
New IT Rules of India: A Quick Brief
Now, if you are not living under a rock, chances are that you might have an idea about the new IT rules of India. According to the new rules of the government, tech companies and social media giants are required to appoint a Chief Compliance Officer (CCO), who should be an Indian resident.
The CCO will be responsible for taking user complaints and resolving issues on the platforms within one month after the complaint is generated. So, WhatsApp’s Grievance Officer Paresh B Lal will have the same job description as the Chief Compliance Officer (CCO) and has to resolve user issues that arise on the platform.
These issues, as per the new IT rules, should be completely resolved within one month by Lal and any flagged content on the platform should be removed from the platform within 36 hours. However, flagged content related to pornography and nudity should be removed within 24 hours time.
This eliminates the automated monitoring systems that social media companies such as Facebook, WhatsApp, and Twitter use to deal with user complaints and issues. Moreover, as the officer is of Indian origin, they will have more understanding of the complaints that are made on the platform in India.
