New Delhi: The Central Government has temporarily restricted access to the messaging platform Telegram across India until June 22 as part of measures aimed at preventing examination-related fraud ahead of the NEET-UG 2026 re-examination scheduled for June 21.
According to reports, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) issued the order under Section 69A of the Information Technology Act following recommendations from the National Testing Agency (NTA). Authorities said the move was intended to curb the spread of fake question papers, misinformation and organised cheating networks operating through the platform.
In addition to the temporary restriction, Telegram has reportedly been directed to disable its message-editing feature in India until June 30. Investigators believe the feature had been misused to alter messages after publication and create misleading claims about paper leaks.
The NTA welcomed the decision, stating that repeated attempts to remove individual channels and groups involved in exam fraud had failed to stop organised cheating rackets and cyber-fraud operations targeting students.
The re-examination of NEET-UG 2026 is scheduled for June 21 after the original examination conducted on May 3 was cancelled amid allegations of a paper leak.
Government agencies, including the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C) and various state cyber cells, have been involved in monitoring and investigating the alleged misuse of Telegram in connection with the examination controversy.
