Ahead of the NEET-UG 2026 re-examination, the National Testing Agency (NTA) has requested a temporary ban on Telegram across the country. The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology has taken that recommendation into consideration and the app has been restricted across India from June 16 in order to avoid any kind of malpractice.
Under Section 69A of the Information Technology Act, 2000, the government of India has imposed a temporary ban on Telegram to prevent fraud and misinformation targeting candidates. The restriction is imposed till June 22, following the re-test of NEET-UG 2026 on June 21. In addition to this Telegram has also been asked to disable the message editing feature until June 30 as it has become the top application for manufacturing fake 'paper leak' proof post exams.
The NTA in a post wrote, “The directions have been issued 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”.
Explaining further on disabling the editing feature on the app the body added, “The feature, in its present form, permits a channel administrator to edit the content of a previously posted message - including the substitution of attached files such as PDFs - while the original send-time stamp is retained. This capability has been used, in respect of multiple recent examinations, to fabricate after-the-event 'paper leak' artefacts: a channel administrator edits an older, innocuous message to insert the actual question paper after the examination has been conducted, and the resulting chat is then circulated as purported “evidence” that the paper was in circulation before the examination.”
It might come as an inconvenience for the regular users who have no relation to the exam but this step seems to be the best possible decision for lakhs of students.
Addressing the same, the NTA wrote, “NTA acknowledges that the access restriction issued by MeitY affects lakhs of citizens who use the Telegram platform for legitimate personal, educational, professional and informational purposes, and sincerely regrets the inconvenience caused to them.”
At a time when forging documents online and creating convincing fake credentials has become easier than ever, this decision comes as a welcome relief for candidates. It also highlights the importance of relying on official websites and verified sources, rather than getting caught up in the growing number of deceptive platforms and scams designed to appear legitimate.
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