Govt restricts Telegram access till June 22, disables message-editing feature amid NEET re-exam concerns

The Centre has restricted access to messaging platform Telegram in India till June 22, National Testing Agency (NTA) said on Tuesday, citing concerns over its alleged misuse by cheating rackets and misinformation networks ahead of the NEET-UG 2026 re-examination.

The directions, issued by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), follow recommendations from the National Testing Agency (NTA) and the Department of Higher Education, according to an NTA statement.

The statement suggests that access to Telegram will remain restricted until June 22, covering the June 21 NEET-UG re-examination and its immediate aftermath.

The platform has also reportedly been directed to disable in India the message-editing feature for already-posted messages until June 30.

The NTA said the measures were aimed at addressing the organised use of the platform by cheating rackets to defraud candidates and at preventing the creation of fabricated "paper leak" evidence.

According to the agency, Telegram's message-editing functionality allows channel administrators to alter previously posted content, including attached files, while retaining the original timestamp.

The feature has allegedly been used in recent examinations to insert actual question papers into older messages after exams were conducted and circulate screenshots as purported proof that papers had leaked beforehand.

The platform-level action follows weeks of coordinated efforts by the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C) under the Ministry of Home Affairs, which has overseen the takedown of numerous Telegram channels, groups and bots allegedly involved in examination-related fraud.

The NTA said channel-by-channel enforcement had proved insufficient to address the problem, prompting requests for graduated platform-level intervention.

Several channels operating under names such as "PAPER LEAKED NEET", "Re-NEET 2026", "Private Mafia" and "REE NEET MAFIAA" had allegedly sought money from candidates and their families by claiming to offer access to the examination paper, the agency said.

"There is no such paper available outside the secured examination chain. The promise of any such material is, in every instance, a fraud," the NTA said.

The agency also cited enforcement action by state authorities, including a June 9 advisory by Bihar Police warning candidates against fraudulent paper-leak claims circulated through Telegram and other platforms.

The NTA acknowledged that the temporary access restriction would affect many legitimate users of Telegram but said the measure was limited in duration and necessary to protect the integrity of the examination.

The NEET-UG 2026 re-examination will be conducted as scheduled on June 21, it said.