Temporary Ban On Telegram In Move To Curb Paper Leak Ahead Of NEET Exam

The National Testing Agency (NTA) on Monday welcomed the Centre's decision to impose temporary restrictions on Telegram in India, describing the move as a necessary step to curb examination-related fraud and misinformation ahead of the NEET-UG 2026 re-examination scheduled for June 21. According to an NTA statement, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), acting on recommendations from the agency, has directed a temporary restriction on access to Telegram in India until June 22. The government has also instructed the platform to disable its message-editing feature in India until June 30. The NTA said the measures were aimed at preventing organised cheating networks from exploiting the platform to spread false claims of question paper leaks and to defraud students appearing for the medical entrance examination.