India has blocked the Telegram messaging app until June 22, saying the platform has been used to “defraud candidates” taking the medical entrance examination, the Ministry of Education said in a statement on Tuesday. The National Testing Agency (NTA) on Monday welcomed the Centre’s decision to impose temporary restrictions on Telegram in India, describing the move as a necessary step to curb examination-related fraud and misinformation ahead of the NEET-UG 2026 re-examination scheduled for June 21. According to an NTA statement, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), acting on recommendations from the agency, has directed a temporary restriction on access to Telegram in India until June 22. The government has also instructed the platform to disable its message-editing feature in India until June 30. The NTA said the measures were aimed at preventing organised cheating networks from exploiting the platform to spread false claims of question paper leaks and to defraud students appearing for the medical entrance examination. Why Telegram’s Editing Feature Is Under Scrutiny The agency said Telegram’s message-editing capability had allegedly been used to create misleading “paper leak” evidence after examinations. According to NTA, channel administrators could edit older posts and replace attachments with question papers after an exam had concluded, while retaining the original timestamp. Such altered posts were then circulated as proof that examination papers had been leaked in advance. Officials said disabling the feature temporarily would help prevent the creation and spread of such fabricated evidence during the post-examination period. Crackdown on Fraud Networks The NTA credited the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C) under the Ministry of Home Affairs for coordinating action against Telegram-based fraud and misinformation campaigns. The agency said several Telegram channels, groups and bots promoting fake promises of NEET question papers had already been taken down. The statement also highlighted recent enforcement actions by state agencies. Bihar Police had issued a public advisory warning students against fraudulent claims of access to examination papers, while the Ahmedabad City Cyber Crime Branch reportedly arrested members of an inter-state cyber fraud gang allegedly operating multiple Telegram channels. Investigators claimed the network had handled transactions worth around Rs 1.5 crore and contacted nearly 1,000 mobile numbers in a month. Students Urged Not to Trust “Paper Leak” Claims The NTA reiterated that no NEET question paper exists outside the secured examination process and warned candidates against falling for claims made on social media and messaging platforms. Several Telegram channels had allegedly demanded payments ranging from a few thousand rupees to several lakh rupees in exchange for purported access to the re-examination paper. The agency described all such offers as fraudulent. Temporary Measure, Says NTA Acknowledging the inconvenience caused to legitimate users, the NTA said the access restriction is limited to the period surrounding the examination and will end on June 22. The agency added that the temporary suspension of the message-editing feature will not affect users’ ability to send or receive new messages. The NTA stressed that the NEET-UG 2026 re-examination will be conducted as scheduled on June 21 and assured students that the security and integrity of the examination remain intact. Candidates have been advised to rely only on official NTA communications and the agency’s website for examination-related updates and to report any fraudulent approaches to cybercrime authorities immediately. (CNA/ NDTV) The post India blocks Telegram messaging app until June 22, government says appeared first on Newswire.
