Centre curbs Telegram access till June 22, disables message editing ahead of NEET UG re-exam

The Union Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology has temporarily restricted access to messaging application Telegram till June 22, a day after the scheduled re-examination of the 2026 undergraduate National Eligibility cum Entrance Test, the National Testing Agency said on Tuesday.

The ministry has also directed the platform under the Information Technology Rules to disable its message-editing feature till June 30. The National Testing Agency alleged that the feature was used “to fabricate after-the-event ‘paper leak’ evidence in respect of national examinations”.

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

The NEET-UG exam was initially conducted on May 3, but was later cancelled following allegations of a paper leak. The exam is conducted by the National Testing Agency for admission to undergraduate medical courses in India.

The National Testing Agency said the ministry issued the directions to Telegram on its recommendation.

It claimed that the application’s message-editing feature was used in several recent examinations to make fabricated claims of paper leaks.

“…A channel administrator edits an older, innocuous message to insert the actual question paper after...

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