.in

.in is the ccTLD for India. It is managed by the National Internet Exchange of India.

Delegation History

IANA initially delegated the ccTLD in the DNS root zone in 1989. The National Centre for Software Technology (NCST) was the sponsoring organization and initially served as the manager and operator of the .in ccTLD.

In 2002, NCST merged with the Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC), a scientific research and development institution of the Ministry of Information Technology.C-DAC managed and operated the .in registry until December of 2004. The Secretary of the Department of Information Technology subsequently issued and order designating and appointing National Internet Exchange of India (NIXI) as the national registry.

Rules and Restrictions

Registrations directly under .in are available without restrictions.

DNS Abuse

The use(s) and actions as described below, of .in Domain Namespaces or its IDN's, are not permissible: malware, phishing, pharming, botnets, fast-flux hosting and spam.

Certain types of content are universally recognized as seriously abusive use of Domain Name services and where authorized/trusted Notifiers bring to .IN Registry’s notice the following types of content abuse(s), appropriate action(s) will be initiated by .IN Registry.

• Child Sexual Abuse material (CSAM): All forms of Content in relation to or involving the sexual exploitation and abuse of a child.
• Controlled Substances: Content in relation to sale or trade of prohibited goods and services such as illegal narcotic drugs, psychotropic substances, illegal firearms and weapons.
• Human Trafficking: Content in relation to unlawful act(s) of transporting or coercing people typically for forced/bonded labour and/or sexual exploitation.
• Violent extremist content: Content which encourages violent action(s), endorsing any terrorist organization or its acts, or encouraging people to join such groups.
• Hate speech: Content in relation to advocacy of regional, ethnic, racial or religious hatred that constitutes incitement to discrimination, hostility or violence.
• Intellectual property Infringement/Piracy: Content (not relating to the Domain Name itself) in relation to use of Domain Name for alleged trademark, patent or trade secret infringement, or piracy of copyrighted or licensed works.

Second-Level Domains

Unrestricted SLDs

The following second-level domains are available for unrestricted registration worldwide, with no nexus or qualification requirements:

• .co.in
• .net.in
• .org.in
• .firm.in
• .gen.in (general)
• .ind.in (individuals)
• .5g.in
• .6g.in
• .ai.in
• .am.in
• .bihar.in
• .biz.in
• .business.in
• .ca.in
• .cn.in
• .com.in
• .coop.in
• .cs.in
• .delhi.in
• .dr.in
• .er.in
• .gujarat.in
• .info.in
• .int.in
• .internet.in
• .io.in
• .me.in
• .pg.in
• .post.in
• .pro.in
• .travel.in
• .tv.in
• .uk.in
• .up.in
• .us.in

Restricted SLDs

The following second-level domains are restricted for use by qualified organizations in India:

• .ac.in: for academic institutions;
• .res.in: for Indian research institutes;
• .edu.in: for Indian colleges and universities;
• .gov.in: for the Indian government;
• .mil.in: for the Indian military.

Reserved Names

Certain domain names have been reserved for use by the government, constitutional bodies, and the registry. The list, as of 2024, can be seen here.

Domain Name Dispute Resolution

The .IN Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (INDRP) sets out the legal framework for resolution of dispute(s) between a domain name Registrant and the Complainant, arising out of the registration and use of a .in domain name.

Any Person who considers that a registered domain name conflicts with their legitimate rights or interests may file a Complaint to the .IN Registry on the following premises:

• the Registrant's domain name is identical and/or confusingly similar to a Name, Trademark or Service Mark etc. in which the Complainant has rights;
• the Registrant has no rights or legitimate interests in respect of the domain name; and
• the Registrant's domain name has been registered or is being used either in bad faith or for illegal/unlawful purpose.

The .IN Registry shall then appoint an Arbitrator from the list of empanelled Arbitrators maintained by the Registry.

Registrant's Rights and Legitimate Interests in the Domain Name

Any of the following circumstances, in particular but without limitation, if found by the Arbitrator to be proved based on its evaluation of all evidences presented before him, shall demonstrate the Registrant's rights to or legitimate interests in the domain name:

• before any notice to the Registrant of the dispute, the Registrant's use of, or demonstrable preparations to use the domain name or a name corresponding to the domain name in connection with a bona fide offering of goods or services;
• the Registrant (as an individual, business, or other organization) has been commonly known by the domain name, even if the Registrant has acquired no Trademark or Service Mark rights; or
• the Registrant is making a legitimate non-commercial or fair use of the domain name, without the intention of commercial gain by misleadingly or diverting consumers or to tarnish the Trademark or Service Mark at issue.

Evidence of Registration and use of Domain Name in Bad Faith

The following circumstances, in particular but without limitation, if found by the Arbitrator to be present, shall be evidence of the Registration and use of a domain name in bad faith:

• circumstances indicating that the Registrant has registered or acquired the domain name primarily for the purpose of selling, renting, or otherwise transferring the domain name registration to the Complainant, who bears the name or is the owner of the Trademark or Service Mark, or to a competitor of that Complainant, for valuable consideration in excess of the Registrant's documented out-of-pocket costs directly related to the domain name; or
• the Registrant has registered the domain name in order to prevent the owner of the Trademark or Service Mark from reflecting the mark in a corresponding domain name, provided that the Registrant has engaged in a pattern of such conduct; or
• by using the domain name, the Registrant has intentionally attempted to attract Internet users to the Registrant's website or other on-line location, by creating a likelihood of confusion with the Complainant's name or mark as to the source, sponsorship, affiliation, or endorsement of the Registrant's website or location or of a product or service on the Registrant's website or location; or
• the Registrant has registered the domain name primarily for the purpose of disrupting the business of a competitor.

Applicable Fees

The total application fee for INDRP would be INR 30,000/- plus applicable taxes. And a fees of INR 2,000/- plus applicable taxes per hearing shall be charged with a maximum of two hearings. And the Seat of Arbitration for such hearing shall be at the the office of NIXI (National Internet Exchange of India) at Delhi or as notified by NIXI Delhi (India).

Disputed Case Decisions

The Decisions with regard to the Disputed Cases can be accessed on the official website of covering the application, facts of the Case and the final decision.

Pricing For Registrars

The pricing for the Registrars for Second Level Domains is INR 400/- per domain and for Third Level Domains such as .co.in, .net.in, .org.in it is INR 300/- per domain. And the registrars are free to set their own pricing. Apart from the per domain charges, there would be a one time registration fee of INR 50,000/- to be accredited by NIXI.

Country code top-level domain

Internet Assigned Numbers Authority

Internationalized Domain Name

Child Sexual Abuse Material