New Delhi, June 16: The National Testing Agency (NTA) restricted access to the Telegram platform in India for a defined and limited period ending 22 June 2026, covering the day of the NEET (UG) 2026 re-examination and its immediate aftermath. The restriction addresses the specific structural feature through which the platform has been used to fabricate after-the-event “paper leak” evidence in respect of national examinations.
The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) issued these calibrated directions following recommendations by the NTA and the Department of Higher Education to check organised cheating rackets.
According to the NTA, the platform-level restriction comes under Section 69A of the Information Technology Act, 2000. Alongside the temporary block, MeitY directed Telegram to disable its message-editing feature in India for messages already posted, a rule that remains in force until 30 June 2026. The NTA stated that cheating networks actively used these platform features to defraud candidates appearing for the re-examination scheduled on 21 June 2026.
“The direction requiring Telegram to disable its message-editing feature in India through 30 June 2026 addresses a separate but related concern,” the NTA stated.
“The directions, issued on recommendations of NTA, are calibrated and bounded in time,” the testing agency stated.
