.desi Domain
The Domain for South Asian Identity
Register your .desi domain from just £19.99/yr. Free DNS management, email forwarding, and 10GB mailbox included with every domain.
This domain has registration restrictions
Nothing about who you are limits a .desi. What limits it is the registry: there has been no commercial operator since ICANN terminated the agreement in October 2023. Read the full eligibility rules.
What is a .desi domain?
"Desi" is a colloquial term used by South Asians to describe themselves and their culture, covering people from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and Nepal. The .desi domain gives businesses, media outlets, and community organisations serving the South Asian diaspora a culturally resonant web address. One thing to weigh before ordering: the extension has been in ICANN's emergency operations programme since October 2023, after its operator served its own termination notice. IANA's record reads that the domain is in caretaker operations, which keeps it resolving but leaves no commercial registry developing it. Ask us to check availability before you plan around it.
Who should register .desi?
South Asian restaurants, Bollywood and entertainment platforms, diaspora community groups, and brands targeting South Asian consumers in the UK and globally.
Why choose .desi?
- Culturally resonant for 1.8+ billion people
- Connects with the global South Asian diaspora
- Strong identity signal for Desi businesses
- Works across food, entertainment, and community
Who runs .desi, and since when
Registry data from the .desi delegation record held by IANA, which maintains the internet's root zone. Eligibility comes from the registry's own policy, and the prices are ours.
- Extension type
- Generic (gTLD)
- Registry operator
- Emergency Back-End Registry Operator Program - ICANN
- The organisation that runs the extension
- In the root zone since
- 2014
- Delegated 6 March 2014
- Who can register
- Open to anyone worldwide, but the registry is in ICANN emergency caretaker operations
- Checked against the registry's own policy
- Our price
- £19.99 a year
- Ex VAT. Renews at the same price
Why .desi runs on ICANN emergency operations
Desi is what South Asians across the diaspora call themselves, and in 2013 a company called Desi Networks LLC signed a registry agreement with ICANN to turn the word into a top level domain. It was delegated the following year. The idea was sound. The business behind it did not last.
On 1 May 2023 Desi Networks gave ICANN notice terminating its own registry agreement. ICANN decided on 19 September 2023 to look for a successor operator rather than retire the extension, moved .desi onto its Emergency Back-End Registry Operator programme on 19 October 2023, and the agreement ended on 28 October 2023. IANA's root zone entry for .desi now carries the line "This domain is in caretaker operations", names ICANN's EBERO programme as the sponsoring organisation, and lists Nominet in Oxford as the technical contact.
This is not a DNS failure. Existing .desi names keep resolving, which is the entire purpose of the programme. But an emergency operator runs five critical registry functions and nothing else, ICANN's own stated goal is to resolve an emergency event "preferably within 12 months", and .desi has been in one since October 2023.
Who is allowed to register .desi?
Nothing about who you are limits a .desi. What limits it is the registry: there has been no commercial operator since ICANN terminated the agreement in October 2023.
- No eligibility test
- There is no South Asian nexus requirement and there never was one. .desi was contracted as a base, non-sponsored generic top level domain, open to any registrant anywhere in the world.
- The registry agreement is terminated
- ICANN's registry agreement record for .desi is headed "Terminated". Desi Networks LLC served the termination notice itself on 1 May 2023 and the agreement ended on 28 October 2023.
- ICANN is looking for a successor
- On 19 September 2023 ICANN made a final determination to transition operation of the extension to a successor registry operator rather than retire it. Until one is appointed, .desi runs on emergency back-end operations under Nominet.
- What emergency operation actually covers
- An EBERO provider sustains DNS resolution, the shared registration system, registration data services, data escrow deposits and a properly signed DNSSEC zone. ICANN states that providers add nothing beyond those functions.
- Check before you build on it
- Ask us to confirm availability before you plan anything around a .desi. Existing names resolve, but an extension whose future operator is undecided is not where a business puts its only address.
Rules taken from the ICANN registry agreement record for .desi. Registry policy can change, so check before you buy if the answer matters to you.
Not sure whether you qualify? Ask us before you order and we will check the registry rules with you. We would rather answer the question than take an order the registry will refuse.
Is .desi the right choice for you?
We would rather sell you the right extension once than the wrong one twice.
.desi works well if
- You are adding a campaign address or a redirect in front of a site you already own, so losing it later would cost you a redirect rather than a business.
- The word Desi is your brand and an exact match on the extension matters to you more than the extension being conventional.
- You want it defensively, to stop somebody else pairing your name with it, and you have no plans to publish anything on it.
Look elsewhere if
- This would be your only web address. An extension with a terminated registry agreement and no appointed successor is the wrong home for it.
- It is going on printed material, a vehicle or a filing. Anything with a long shelf life wants an extension whose operator is settled.
- You expect the recognition the word carries with a South Asian audience to transfer to the extension. Most people have never seen a .desi address.
Building a South Asian brand meant to last? Put the word in the name and register a .co.uk or .com around it. See .co.uk pricing.
.desi vs .com: which should you register?
This is not a close comparison and it would be dishonest to pretend otherwise. A .com is backed by a registry agreement in force, a registry that has run continuously since 1985, and an operator nobody expects to hand the keys back. .desi is on emergency caretaker operations with no successor appointed.
Pick the .com for anything a customer needs to reach next year, next contract or next decade. Pick the .desi only as an addition to that, where the word is doing branding work and the extension is decoration. If you have already got one, keep an eye on ICANN's registry agreement termination page rather than waiting for a registrar email.
.desi domain questions, answered
What people ask us before registering a .desi domain.
Can't find what you're looking for?
Ask us directlyNo retirement process has been started. When Desi Networks LLC terminated its registry agreement, ICANN made a final determination on 19 September 2023 to transition operation to a successor registry operator rather than not to transition it, which is the decision that would have led towards retirement. In the meantime the extension stays in the root zone and existing names keep resolving under ICANN's emergency back-end operator programme, with Nominet as the technical operator.
Ask us to check before you plan around it. An emergency operator is contracted to keep five critical registry functions running for the names that already exist, and what is offered for new registrations during an event of this length is not something to assume from a price list. Existing .desi names continue to resolve and are the clear priority of the programme. If you want a Desi brand address you can rely on for years, put the word in the name rather than the extension.
IANA lists the sponsoring organisation as ICANN's Emergency Back-End Registry Operator Program, with the administrative contact at ICANN in Los Angeles and the technical contact at Nominet in Oxford. The original operator, Desi Networks LLC, signed its agreement on 14 November 2013 and served notice to terminate it on 1 May 2023. The root zone record has read "This domain is in caretaker operations" since the transfer on 19 October 2023.
Included with Your .desi Domain
DNS Management
Full DNS zone editor to manage A, CNAME, MX, TXT, and all record types.
Email Forwarding
Set up professional email addresses and forward to any inbox.
Auto-Renewal
Never lose your domain with automatic renewal protection.
Free 10GB Mailbox
One 10GB mailbox (POP3/IMAP) included with every domain, on any TLD.
Other Geographic Domains Extensions
Register your .desi domain today
Secure your .desi domain from just £19.99/yr. Free DNS management, email forwarding, and 10GB mailbox included.
