The Centre has blocked Telegram across India until June 22 and ordered the platform to disable its message-editing feature until June 30. The move aims to prevent organised fraud ahead of the NEET-UG 2026 re-examination on June 21.
The editing-feature restriction addresses a technique used to manufacture false proof of advance leaks. A channel administrator posts an innocuous message before an examination, then edits it after the exam to insert the actual question paper.
NTA said the resulting chat is then circulated as purported evidence that the paper was in circulation before the examination. The ministry of electronics and information technology (MeitY) issued both orders under Section 69A of the Information Technology Act.
Apple and Google received directives from MeitY to remove Telegram from their respective app stores in India, while several major ISPs enforced blocks that prevented the application from establishing connection.
Telecom operators were also receiving batches of IP addresses to block from the government. The government then sends the latest IP addresses to block, making it a cat and mouse chase.
NTA said Telegram channels advertising themselves under names such as “PAPER LEAKED NEET”, “Re-NEET 2026”, “Private Mafia” and “REE NEET MAFIAA” had demanded ₹14,000 to ₹25,000 — and in some cases ₹10 lakh — from candidates and their families for purported access to the question paper.
The agency said no question paper existed outside the secured examination chain. The June 21 re-examination follows the cancellation of the original NEET-UG held on May 3, called off on May 12 following allegations of a paper leak.
