Government bans Telegram until June 22 to curb cheating ahead of NEET re-test

The Telegram app has been temporarily restricted in India ahead of the NEET UG 2026 re-examination over viral allegations of paper leaks sourced from the app.

As Telegram channels flooded students with claims of leaked question papers, edited screenshots and promises of guaranteed access to the exam, the National Testing Agency has now issued its strongest statement yet, explaining why Telegram access has been temporarily restricted in India and why one of the platform's most-used features has been disabled.

The move comes days before the NEET UG 2026 re-exam scheduled for



June 21.

The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology has issued two separate directions.

The first restricts access to Telegram in India until June 22, covering the examination period and the immediate aftermath.

The second requires Telegram to disable editing of already-posted messages in India until June 30.

NTA described both measures as "calibrated and bounded in time" and said they were adopted only after other remedies, including large-scale takedowns of channels and groups, failed to adequately address the problem.