In a significant development, the government has imposed a temporary restriction on the messaging platform Telegram across the country until June 22 following recommendations from the National Testing Agency (NTA).
The decision has been taken to prevent alleged paper leaks and misinformation campaigns ahead of the NEET (UG) 2026 re-examination scheduled for June 21.
In a statement, NTA informed that the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) has issued a direction under Section 69A of the Information Technology Act, 2000, restricting access to Telegram across the country for a limited period ending June 22.
The restriction will cover the examination day as well as its immediate aftermath.
“The National Testing Agency (NTA) welcomes the directions issued today in respect of the Telegram platform in India,” it stated.
Also, the platform has been ordered to disable its message-editing feature in India until June 30. The NTA statement highlights that the feature was misused in the past to create fabricated “paper leak” evidence by editing older messages and inserting examination papers after the tests had already been conducted.
“Both measures have been taken in the interest of public order, in response to the organised use of the platform by cheating rackets to defraud candidates appearing for the NEET (UG) 2026 re-examination scheduled on 21 June 2026. NTA expresses its gratitude to the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology for this timely action, in the interest of students, which will go a long way in helping NTA to be able to conduct safe and secure examinations on 21st June 2026,” read the statement.
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
Further, the agency mentioned the role of the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C), operating under the Ministry of Home Affairs, for coordinating efforts against Telegram-based fraud and misinformation targeting NEET candidates.
“Acting on inputs received continuously from NTA, from State law-enforcement agencies including the police forces of Bihar, Gujarat and Rajasthan, and from its own continuous monitoring of public channels and platforms, I4C has secured the prompt take-down of a substantial number of Telegram channels, groups and bots whose names and content openly advertised their fraudulent and misleading purpose,” NTA said.
It noted that thiks was done with active support of Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology.
“NTA places on record that the intelligence-sharing and coordinated take-down action led by the Ministry of Home Affairs, through I4C, and MeitY has been continuous, prompt and substantive, and remains the operational backbone of the response. This sustained inter-agency effort, well in advance of the present platform-level action, is the reason the harm caused by these rackets has been contained to the extent it has,” the statement added.
Moreover, the agency claimed that multiple Telegram channels operating under names such as “Paper Leaked NEET”, “Re-NEET 2026”, “Private Mafia” and other similar titles had been demanding payments ranging from a few thousand rupees to several lakh rupees from candidates in exchange for purported access to the examination paper.
“NTA has placed on the record, and reiterates, that there is no such paper available outside the secured examination chain. The promise of any such material is, in every instance, a fraud,” it said.