NEET Paper Leak Row: The government's decision to restrict access to Telegram across the country until June 22 ahead of the NEET UG 2026 re-examination has drawn criticism from cybersecurity researcher Nisarga Adhikary, who argued that blocking the messaging platform fails to address the root causes of exam paper leaks.
Reacting to the National Testing Agency's post on X, the teenage cybersecurity expert said: "Can't stop paper leaks, ends up blocking Telegram." Adhikary further explained that completely blocking Telegram is technically impossible, as the platform is designed to easily allow users to bypass restrictions through proxies and other circumvention methods.
> can't stop paper leaks
— nisarga (@ni5arga) June 16, 2026
> ends up blocking telegram
blocking telegram totally isn't even possible, telegram is designed in such a way which easily allows people to use proxies and other methods of circumvention. https://t.co/kv0VliWGrC
In a major move aimed at curbing examination-related fraud, the Central government has imposed a temporary restriction on the messaging platform Telegram across India until June 22, following recommendations from the National Testing Agency. The measure has been taken to prevent alleged paper leaks, misinformation campaigns and cheating networks ahead of the NEET UG 2026 re-examination scheduled for June 21.
Additionally, Telegram has been directed to disable its message-editing feature in India until June 30. The NTA stated that the feature has been misused in the past to create fabricated "paper leak" evidence by editing older messages and inserting examination papers after the tests had already been conducted, while retaining the original timestamp.
The NTA said both measures were implemented in the interest of public order and to counter the organised activities of cheating syndicates that allegedly used the platform to defraud candidates appearing for the NEET re-examination.
The agency alleged that several Telegram channels operating under names such as "Paper Leaked NEET", "Re-NEET 2026", "Private Mafia" and similar titles had been demanding payments ranging from a few thousand rupees to several lakh rupees in exchange for purported access to the examination paper.
The NTA reiterated that no examination paper had been leaked and warned that any claims offering advance access to question papers were fraudulent.
