The group, till recently a free online community, has for the past several years provided tips to new entrants on a variety of issues — from where to buy cat food, to where to put up and what to pay the landlord. Originally a networking tool for UN employees, YUNI-net soon opened its site to all expatriates working in Delhi.

Italian citizen Max Tropeano joined the group when he moved to Delhi seven years ago. “At first, it was difficult to know how much anything cost, people would cheat us into paying too much.” For Axel Hof, who is working at the European Delegation, YUNI-net was a way to make friends and socialise in an unfamiliar city. Practical advice aside, the group regularly generates wider debates that range from the inane — how many cows has Texan Hank spotted so far — to the downright offensive; the group is no stranger to controversy.

A couple of years ago a decision not to include Indian members led to cries of racism; many chose to unsubscribe. The group has since relaxed its membership criteria, but with 976 members to date, most of whom are expatriates, messages from estate agents, landlords, restaurants and other service providers frequently storm inboxes.

Using this as a jumping point, in December, present group moderators Christophe Ferreira and Anthony Guilhamou sent out a message stating the only way to continue to deliver a free service would be to charge certain users for postings. Landlords, for instance, would have to pay 10 per cent of their monthly rent to advertise a room.

For YUNI-net members this came as a shock. “Commercialising the group is against its spirit, it was formed as a free, online community,” says Hof. Members complain there was no group discussion, though Ferreira claims views were taken into account. “We received no messages informing us of changes or inviting discussion, just the decision itself,” said member Deepika Naruka.

When Hof demanded an explanation from the moderators, he received no response. “Worse, I found that none of my messages were being delivered to other members in the group.” Hof was not the only one. “The censorship is very worrying, any voice of dissent is being quashed,” says Naruka.

According to Ferreira, the moderators have been inundated with questions and “haven’t got time to reply to each one”. As for censoring messages, Ferreira says: “Members complain about spam, political debates and commercial emails. We filter these,” he said. “But what counts as spam?” asks Lillian Strand, who has been part of the group for the last five years. “Something might be interesting to me, but seen as spam by another.” Hof adds: “The point of a group like YUNI-net is that everyone sees the messages.”

No one is clear how the funds from the new rule will be spent, including Ferreira. He says the decision is mostly a deterrent. He said, “A number of our members have been cheated in the past, and this new rule is to discourage phoney landlords.” No money has been collected so far, he adds.

The irony of a lack of democratic census in a group started for UN professionals has not been lost on its members. “They think they can get away with it because it’s not a face-to-face community,” says Naruka.