New Delhi: In order to ensure the most transparent and secure conduct of the re-examination of the medical entrance exam NEET (NEET-UG 2026), the Central Government has decided to temporarily ban the popular messaging app ‘Telegram’ across the country.
According to an official directive issued by the Union Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), Telegram services will be temporarily unavailable in India till June 22, 2026. The NEET (UG) re-examination will be held across the country on June 21 with tight security, and this precautionary measure has been taken to prevent any information or question papers related to the examination from being leaked on social media.
The National Testing Agency, which is responsible for conducting the NEET examination, has openly welcomed this swift and tough decision of the Central Government. The NTA said that this temporary ban will help maintain the fairness of the exam and prevent any injustice to lakhs of honest students of the country.
The central government has temporarily banned the Telegram app in India till June 22 as a precautionary measure to prevent any kind of irregularities or spread of rumours in the NEET re-examination to be held on June 21.
How many people are using Telegram in India?
According to the latest figures, there are approximately 10 crore active Telegram users in India. India accounts for about 22% of the total Telegram app downloads globally. 39% of India’s internet users use Telegram for various needs.
Although this temporary ban will cause inconvenience to common users for a few days, the National Testing Agency (NTA) said that this step was necessary in the interest of the future of lakhs of students in the country and the security of the exam.
Restrictions on editing feature: Even though the ban on the Telegram app ends on June 22, the government has ordered Telegram to disable this message editing feature in India till June 30.
On Telegram, you can edit the text inside old messages without changing the timestamp. This feature was used to spread rumors of paper leaks by editing old messages after the exam was over, creating false evidence that they had received the question paper before the exam. The government has taken this decision to prevent this.
Some networks of fraudsters were trying to extort money from candidates and their parents through Telegram channels by claiming that they would issue the NEET re-exam question papers themselves. The government has taken steps to prevent such frauds.