Amid growing scrutiny of the government over examination irregularities and paper leak allegations, the Centre on Monday temporarily blocked the Telegram messaging app until June 22, saying the platform was being used to "defraud candidates" appearing for the NEET-UG 2026 re-examination.
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The National Testing Agency (NTA) welcomed the move, describing it as a necessary step to curb exam-related fraud, misinformation and fake paper-leak claims ahead of the June 21 re-test.
The NTA stated that these measures are intended to stop organised cheating networks from misusing the platform to circulate false allegations of question paper leaks and to deceive students taking the medical entrance exam.
According to the NTA, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) has restricted access to Telegram in India until June 22 and instructed the platform to deactivate message editing until June 30.
Why Is Telegram's Message-Editing Feature Disabled?
The agency stated that Telegram’s message-editing feature was allegedly exploited to fabricate deceptive “paper leak” evidence after exams. The NTA said channel administrators were able to modify older posts and swap out attachments with question papers once an exam was over, while keeping the original timestamp intact. These altered posts were then shared as supposed proof that exam papers had been leaked beforehand.
Officials said disabling the feature temporarily would help prevent the creation and spread of such fabricated evidence during the post-examination period.
The NTA said several Telegram channels, groups and bots promoting fake NEET question papers have been taken down as part of a crackdown coordinated by the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C). Authorities have also acted against alleged fraud networks, with Bihar Police issuing warnings and cybercrime officials in Ahmedabad arresting members of a suspected inter-state scam operation.
The agency urged students not to trust "paper leak" claims circulating online, stating that no NEET paper exists outside the secured examination process and that all offers of access to exam papers are fraudulent. While Telegram access will remain restricted until June 22, the NTA said the June 21 re-examination will proceed as scheduled and advised candidates to rely only on official communications for updates.