The Union government has ordered a nationwide block on access to Telegram until 22 June 2026, covering the period around the NEET (UG) re-exam on 21 June. The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) issued the order under Section 69A of the Information Technology Act, 2000, acting on formal recommendations from the National Testing Agency (NTA).

According to the NTA, organised cheating rackets were openly using Telegram channels to approach candidates and parents with offers of the "re-exam paper," demanding payments ranging from a few thousand rupees to several lakhs. Investigators say these operations were designed to defraud students rather than distribute any genuine question papers.

Alongside the broader Telegram ban in India, MeitY has issued a second direction: the platform must disable its message-editing feature for already posted messages in India until 30 June 2026. The NTA explains that Telegram currently lets channel administrators edit old posts and even swap attached files while keeping the original timestamp.

Fraudsters exploited this to fabricate "proof" of paper leaks, first posting harmless content before the exam and then, after the test, editing the same post to add the actual question paper. Screenshots of the backdated post were then circulated as supposed evidence that the paper had been leaked in advance, fuelling panic and anger among candidates.

Officials describe the Telegram ban in India as a "measure of last resort," imposed only after repeated, targeted takedowns of individual channels failed to secure adequate cooperation at the platform level. Over recent weeks, channels using names such as "PAPER LEAKED NEET" and "Re-NEET 2026" allegedly contacted around 1,000 mobile numbers in a month and moved roughly ₹1.5 crore through fraudulent schemes.

The Ahmedabad City Cyber Crime Branch has arrested members of what it calls an inter-state gang running multiple Telegram channels to sell fake access to NEET papers, while Bihar Police and other state agencies have issued public advisories warning students not to fall for such offers. The NTA has reiterated that no NEET 2026 examination paper has been available outside the secure chain and that every such solicitation is fraudulent.

The temporary Telegram ban in India affects a vast number of people who rely on the app for personal communication, classes, coaching groups and professional networking, and the NTA has publicly acknowledged the inconvenience. Full access to the platform is scheduled to be restored on 22 June 2026, the day after the NEET re-exam, while the edit-feature restriction will stay in place until 30 June.

Authorities urge anyone who encounters NEET-related scams to report them to the National Cyber-Crime Helpline at 1930 or via the cybercrime.gov.in portal, in addition to NTA's own helplines. For now, the Telegram ban in India has become the latest flashpoint in the wider debate over exam integrity, tech platform responsibility and the cost of sweeping digital restrictions to everyday users.