MeitY Temporarily Blocks Telegram in India Ahead of NEET (UG) 2026 Re-Examination

Telegram has been restricted in India temporarily ahead of the National Eligibility Cum Entrance Test (NEET) re-examination for the undergraduate (UG) medical aspirants, conducted by the National Testing Agency (NTA). The government has restricted access to the instant messaging app, claiming that it was being misused to spread misinformation and distribute leaked exam papers. While access to Telegram will remain restricted till next week, its message-editing feature will remain banned until the end of this month. This comes after the NEET (UG) 2026 exam was cancelled amidst reports of paper leaks in multiple states. The agency acknowledged the issue, claiming that some of the leaked questions were shared via social media platforms.

Telegram Access Restricted in India Until June 22

On Tuesday, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) issued directions under Section 69A of the Information Technology Act, 2000, restricting access to Telegram in India. The instant messaging platform has been banned temporarily until June 22. In a post on X, NTA welcomed MeitY's new directions, which were issued on NTA's recommendations.

Section 69A of the Information Technology Act, 2000 authorises the government and its agencies to block access for the public to social media intermediaries in the interest of sovereignty and integrity, defence, and security of India, and in the interest of the country's friendly relations with foreign States or public order, while also preventing incitement to any cognizable offence. Violation of such directions can invite imprisonment and fines.

On top of this, the directions also restrict access to Telegram's message-editing feature till June 30. NTA claims that the functionality was being misused to “fabricate” evidence in the aftermath of the NEET (UG) 2026 examination. Moreover, the government agency claims that the instant messaging service can be misused by “cheating rackets to defraud candidates” who are set to appear for the NEET (UG) 2026 re-examination on June 21.

Highlighting previous actions taken against bad actors, NTA said that the Union Ministry of Home Affairs' Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C) had recently taken down various Telegram channels, groups, and bots that were involved in “openly advertising their fraudulent and misleading purpose”. Law enforcement agencies of various states have also taken action against such bad actors, who were involved in spreading “misinformation” after instances of “paper leaks”.

NTA further said, “The access restriction issued by MeitY affects lakhs of citizens who use the Telegram platform for legitimate personal, educational, professional and informational purposes, and sincerely regrets the inconvenience caused to them.”