Indian government has issued a blocking order against Supabase, the popular open-source backend-as-a-service (BaaS) platform.
The block has caused widespread disruption for thousands of Indian developers and startups, with access being restricted at the ISP (Internet Service Provider) and DNS levels across major networks including Reliance Jio, JioFiber, and Airtel.
The Details of the Block
While the government has not yet released an official public statement explaining the rationale, here is what we know about the situation as of February 28, 2026:
- The Legal Basis: The block was reportedly issued under Section 69A of the Information Technology Act, which grants the government power to restrict access to online content in the interest of national security, public order, or preventing incitement to an offense.
- Nature of the Disruption: This is not a global outage; Supabase infrastructure remains fully operational worldwide. However, within India, users are experiencing Auth failures, database timeouts, and unreachable API endpoints (
*.supabase.co). - The “Silent” Rollout: Many developers first noticed the issue on February 24, reporting that Jio was “silently blocking” the service before news of a formal government order broke on February 27.
Why it Matters: The “Developer Crisis”
India is one of Supabase’s largest markets, accounting for roughly 9% of its global traffic. The sudden block has created an “infrastructure emergency” for the local tech ecosystem:
| Impact Area | Consequences |
| Live Production Apps | Millions of end-users are unable to log in or sync data on apps built with Supabase. |
| App Store Rejections | Developers have reported that new app updates are being rejected by Apple and Google because reviewers (some testing from Indian nodes) cannot bypass the broken login flows. |
| Investment Risk | Analysts warn that blocking fundamental developer tools without warning makes the Indian market look “unpredictable” for international tech investment. |
Temporary Workarounds
Supabase has acknowledged the issue and is actively working with Indian authorities to resolve the block. In the meantime, the community has identified several temporary fixes:
- Change DNS Settings: Many users have successfully restored access by switching from their ISP’s default DNS to Cloudflare (1.1.1.1) or Google (8.8.8.8).
- Use a VPN: A VPN effectively bypasses the ISP-level block by routing traffic through a different country.
- Custom Domains: For those on paid Supabase plans, setting up a Custom Domain for your project may help, as it routes traffic through a different URL that might not be on the blocklist.
- Reverse Proxies: Some advanced teams are using Cloudflare Workers or similar tools to act as a bridge between their app and the Supabase API.
Broader Context: The 2026 IT Rules
This block comes just days after the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) notified the IT Amendment Rules 2026, which introduced a strict 3-hour takedown window for illegal content and mandatory labeling for AI-generated media. While it’s unclear if these rules are directly related to the Supabase block, the timing highlights an era of much tighter digital regulation in India.
