The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) has ordered a temporary ban on messaging platform Telegram in India under Section 69A of the Information Technology Act, 2000, officials confirmed on Tuesday. The restriction will remain in effect until June 22, covering the NEET (UG) 2026 re-examination scheduled for June 21.

The government has also directed Telegram to disable its message editing feature in India until June 30, even after the exam lifts. This means users will not be able to edit previously sent messages during this period.

According to the National Testing Agency (NTA), the action was taken because certain individuals were using Telegram's edit function to create fake evidence of paper leaks in national-level examinations. "Some people would edit old messages and add question papers or PDFs to them. Later, it was claimed that the paper had leaked before the exam," an NTA press release stated.

Multiple channels demanding money for exam papers

The agency said several Telegram channels were operating under names like "Paper Leaked NEET", "Re-NEET 2026", "Private Mafia", and "REE NEET MAFIAA". Officials said these channels were demanding thousands to lakhs of rupees from students and parents in exchange for purported exam papers.

The Indian Cybercrime Coordination Centre (I4C), in collaboration with Bihar, Gujarat, and Rajasthan Police, has already taken action against several Telegram channels, groups, and bots. The Ahmedabad Cyber Crime Branch has arrested members of an interstate cyber fraud gang linked to the racket.

Investigations have so far revealed eight Telegram channels, transactions worth approximately ₹1.5 crore, and about 1,000 mobile numbers connected to the fraud, police sources said.

NTA: Ban last resort, inconvenience unavoidable

The NTA acknowledged the ban might inconvenience general users but defended the move as a last resort. "Prior to this, several steps were taken, including the removal of objectionable content. This decision was necessary to maintain the fairness of examinations," the agency said.

The NEET-UG examination, originally conducted on May 3, was cancelled following allegations of question paper leaks in several states. The NTA scrapped the exam on May 12 after investigation found indications of irregularities. The re-examination will now be held on June 21.

Changes made for re-exam

The NTA has increased the exam duration from 180 minutes to 195 minutes for the re-test. Space for rough work has also been expanded in the answer sheet.

NEET serves as the gateway to over 1 lakh medical seats across India, including MBBS, BDS, AYUSH, nursing, and other courses at premier institutions such as AIIMS and JIPMER.

The agency has advised students not to trust unconfirmed information circulating on social media and to rely only on official updates at neet.nta.nic.in. Further details on the ban's enforcement are awaited.