Telegram Blocked Across India Till June 22 to Prevent NEET Paper Leak

The Central Government has instructed to temporarily restrict the Telegram app till 22 June across India because of rising concerns that the app is being used for the paper leak of NEET.

This is being done because a re-exam of NEET-UG 2026 is being conducted on June 21, 2026. Authorities believe some cheating groups were using Telegram channels to share leaked papers and mislead students. To prevent this, the government restricted access to Telegram until June 22.

MeitY has issued this on Tuesday under Section 69A of the IT Act, which covers the test day and its immediate aftermath. A second order will require telegram to switch off its message editing feature in India till June 30.

The NTA has said that the move is ‘calibrated and bounded in time’ and also thanks MeitY for acting in ‘the interest of students. ‘

Several channels across Telegram named ‘PAPER LEAKED NEET,’ ‘re-NEET 2026,’ and ‘Private Mafia’ had demanded several lakh rupees from anxious families, promising to give them the actual paper in return.

The agency has clearly said that “There is no such paper available outside the secured examination chain. The promise of any such material is, in every instance, a fraud.”

Ahmedabad City Cyber Crime busted an interstate gang that was running eight Telegram channels that routed approx. Rs 1.5 crore through fake accounts and about a thousand numbers were contacted in a single month.

Bihar Police’s Economics Offences Unit had already warned several candidates about such claims and also coordinated with the home ministry under 14C to take down such channels.

The NTA has admitted that there are inconveniences of blocking the app, as there are lakhs of citizens who use Telegram for legitimate reasons and the NTA also sincerely regrets it but insists that the restriction ends on 22 June.

It said, ” The security of the examination is unaffected by the action taken; it is, in fact, the very purpose of the action.”

NTA has further given reassurance to the candidates and said, “Our tech teams are monitoring the loads on the servers and NTA will ensure that all candidates get their Admit Card well in time for the examination.”