The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) has temporarily blocked popular messaging platform Telegram across India until June 22 following a request from the National Testing Agency (NTA), amid concerns over paper leak claims and examination-related fraud ahead of the NEET-UG 2026 re-examination.

The move comes after the original NEET-UG exam, conducted on May 3, was cancelled following allegations of a widespread question paper leak and other irregularities. The re-examination is scheduled for June 21.

According to the NTA, Telegram was being used by several channels and groups to circulate purported leaked question papers and facilitate communication between students, middlemen and others allegedly involved in examination-related scams. The blocking order has been issued under Section 69(A) of the Information Technology Act, 2000.

In addition to the temporary ban, the government has directed Telegram to disable its message-editing feature in India for already-posted messages until June 30. The NTA described the measure as necessary to prevent the fabrication of false evidence related to paper leaks.

"The directions are a measure of last resort," the agency said.

Why Telegram was blocked

The NTA said that in recent weeks, numerous Telegram channels had been openly demanding payments ranging from a few thousand rupees to several lakhs from students and their families in exchange for alleged access to the NEET re-examination paper.

Several channels reportedly operated under names such as "PAPER LEAKED NEET", "Re-NEET 2026", "Private Mafia" and "REE NEET MAFIAA". The agency clarified that no examination paper had been leaked outside the secured examination system.

The action follows multiple complaints and intelligence inputs from law-enforcement agencies. On June 15, Ahmedabad Police arrested two men from Rajasthan for allegedly running a Telegram-based racket that duped medical aspirants by falsely claiming to possess the NEET re-examination paper. Investigators later found that the accused did not have access to any leaked documents.

Acting on information received from the NTA and police authorities in Bihar, Gujarat and Rajasthan, the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C) has already facilitated the removal of several Telegram channels, groups and bots that were allegedly promoting fraudulent examination-related content.

Why the message-editing feature was restricted

The NTA said the restriction on Telegram's message-editing feature addresses a separate but significant concern involving the creation of fake paper leak evidence.

According to the agency, Telegram currently allows administrators to edit previously posted messages and replace attached files, including PDFs, while retaining the original timestamp. Authorities claim this feature has been misused in past examinations to create misleading evidence.

In such cases, administrators allegedly posted harmless messages before an exam and later replaced the attachments with the actual question paper after the examination had concluded. Screenshots of these edited messages were then circulated online as supposed proof that the paper had been leaked before the exam.

The temporary restriction aims to prevent such manipulation during the critical post-examination period, when claims of paper leaks typically emerge.

The government maintains that the measures are intended to protect the integrity of the examination process and ensure a fair and secure environment for lakhs of students appearing for the NEET-UG re-examination.