Telegram Banned in India Till June 22: NTA's Big Move to Stop NEET 2026 Paper Leak

The National Testing Agency (NTA) welcomed the Centre's decision to place temporary restrictions on Telegram in India on Monday. The agency called it a necessary step to curb exam-related fraud and misinformation ahead of the NEET-UG 2026 re-exam on June 21.

According to an NTA statement, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) acted on the agency's recommendations. It has restricted access to Telegram in India until June 22. The government has also told the platform to disable its message-editing feature in India until June 30.

The NTA said these steps aim to stop organised cheating networks from misusing the platform. These networks spread false claims of question paper leaks and try to defraud students taking the medical entrance exam.

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Why Telegram's Editing Feature Is Under Scrutiny

This is because, according to the examination body, the cheats were able to edit the messages on the messaging app and replace the attachments with exam papers within the original timestamps. This was achieved by the network administrators being able to go back to previous messages on the messaging app and editing them to show that there had been a leak of exam papers beforehand.

Officials said disabling the feature for now would help stop people from making and spreading such fake evidence after the exam.

NTA STATEMENT REGARDING THE ACTION ON TELEGRAM PLATFORM IN INDIA

1. The National Testing Agency (NTA) welcomes the directions issued today in respect of the Telegram platform in India. The directions, issued on recommendations of NTA are calibrated and bounded in time:

(a) a…

— National Testing Agency (@NTA_Exams) June 16, 2026

Crackdown on Fraud Networks

According to NTA, the action against fraudulent Telegram activities was coordinated by I4C, which is a part of the Ministry of Home Affairs. It was reported that several Telegram channels, groups, and bots promoting fake NEET question papers were also shut down.

Apart from NTA, there have been actions from other authorities as well. For example, Bihar Police issued a public notice to advise the candidates on not believing in any claim made regarding the availability of NEET question papers. In another development, according to reports, Ahmedabad City Cyber Crime Branch caught some of the members of an inter-state cyber fraud gang operating several Telegram channels. It is alleged that these people had conducted financial transactions worth around Rs 1.5 crore within one month.

Students Urged Not to Trust "Paper Leak" Claims

The NTA repeated that no NEET question paper exists outside the secure exam process. It warned candidates not to fall for claims made on social media and messaging apps.

Several Telegram channels had allegedly demanded payments ranging from a few thousand rupees to several lakh rupees in exchange for so-called access to the re-exam paper. The agency said all such offers are fraudulent.

Temporary Measure, Says NTA

The NTA admitted the restriction would inconvenience genuine users. Still, it said the ban only covers the period around the exam and will end on June 22. The agency added that pausing the message-editing feature won't stop users from sending or receiving new messages.

The NTA stressed that the NEET-UG 2026 re-exam will go ahead as planned on June 21. It assured students that the exam's security and integrity remain intact.

Candidates have been advised to rely only on official NTA updates and the agency's website for exam-related news. They should also report any fraudulent approaches to cybercrime authorities right away.

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