Does PureVPN work in India?

As of Jul 22, 2026, PureVPN is partially working in India.

Status: degraded
Confidence: medium
Last verified: Jul 22, 2026
Method: Tunnel itself has no reported blocking; the problem is website access: www.purevpn.com is DNS-blocked on Airtel broadband, Airtel mobile, and Vodafone Idea through Jul 21 2026 while Jio, ACT, and BSNL are clean; Airtel/Vi users cannot reach the site, download apps, or manage accounts without switching DNS or networks; virtual India servers only since the 2022 CERT-In exit

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Verified working in India right now

NordVPN (low confidence, No physical Indian servers since 2022 (CERT-In); serves India via a virtual location (hardware abroad), which affects server location, not usability. Regional caveats: J&K imposed a UT-wide 2-month VPN ban from Dec 29, 2025, and we could not confirm whether it was extended past its late-February 2026 expiry; Manipur rolling suspensions remain. On Vodafone Idea (AS55410) the nordvpn.com website is blocked, but the same block hits other VPN vendor sites and is website-level only. NordVPN was not among the VPN apps delisted from Indian app stores in the Jan 2025 MHA enforcement.)
Surfshark (medium confidence, Connects normally, no special settings needed; India IPs come from virtual Mumbai/Delhi locations since the 2022 CERT-In exit (server location only, not in-country usability); app remains on Indian app stores; if issues on a specific ISP, vendor guidance is Camouflage Mode or OpenVPN TCP)
ExpressVPN (medium confidence, No obfuscation or special settings needed; India locations are virtual only (via Singapore and UK) since the 2022 CERT-In pullout, which affects server location, not connectivity from inside India; app remains on Indian app stores; regional exception: Kashmir VPN crackdowns since Jan 2026)

Set on PureVPN? It is partially working in India right now. Check the method notes above before you buy. Get PureVPN

What we're seeing

The tunnel has no reported blocking; the problem is the website. OONI shows www.purevpn.com DNS-blocked on Airtel broadband (88 anomalies of 127), Airtel mobile, and Vodafone Idea through July 21, 2026, while Jio, ACT, and BSNL are completely clean. The ISP-discriminating pattern rules out CDN false positives. Airtel and Vi users cannot reach the site to download apps or manage accounts without switching DNS or networks, which is why this sits at degraded.

Sources for the above:

user_report (Jul 22, 2026): OONI by ASN Jun 1 to Jul 22 2026: Airtel AS24560 88 anomalies of 127, Airtel mobile AS45609 8/11, Vodafone Idea AS55410 5/5; Jio 0/139, ACT 0/39, BSNL 0/13; ISP-discriminating pattern rules out CDN false positives
user_report (Jul 22, 2026): OONI: 20 most recent anomalies Jul 9-21 2026, nearly all blocking type dns on the Airtel and Vodafone Idea ASNs; fresh, dated, ISP-attributed
news (Jul 22, 2026): Jul 3 2026 (snippet-observed): government drafting stricter VPN rules (local office, compliance officers, 5-year retention); proposal stage, context only
news (Jul 22, 2026): Background (Jan 2025): India ordered removal of Cloudflare 1.1.1.1, Hide.me, PrivadoVPN and others from app stores; PureVPN was not among the removed apps

Common questions

Is using a VPN legal in India?

Yes. VPN use is legal. The 2022 CERT-In rules require providers to keep customer records, which is why most major VPNs removed their physical Indian servers. Jammu and Kashmir has imposed regional VPN bans since December 2025.

Do I need obfuscation in India?

No. Standard protocols connect normally on Jio, Airtel, ACT, and BSNL as of July 2026. India blocks specific websites, not VPN tunnels.

Why do VPNs show virtual Indian servers?

Because of the 2022 CERT-In data rules, most providers moved their Indian IPs to servers hosted abroad. That affects where your Indian IP physically lives, not whether the VPN works from inside India.