Srinagar, June 16: The Central Government has temporarily blocked access to the messaging platform Telegram across India until June 22 as a precautionary measure ahead of the NEET (UG) 2026 re-examination scheduled for June 21, the National Testing Agency (NTA) announced on Tuesday.
According to the NTA, the restriction was imposed following its recommendation to prevent the misuse of Telegram by organised cheating syndicates and to curb the spread of misleading information related to the examination.
The agency said the order was issued under Section 69A of the Information Technology Act, 2000, and will remain in force through the examination period and the days immediately following the test.
In addition, Telegram has been instructed to suspend its message-editing feature for users in India until June 30. The NTA stated that the feature had allegedly been exploited in the past to alter previously posted messages and falsely portray them as evidence of question paper leaks after examinations were completed.
Describing the move as a step to safeguard the integrity of the examination process, the NTA said the restrictions are intended to protect candidates from fraud, misinformation and activities linked to examination-related malpractice networks.
The agency also acknowledged the support of the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, saying the intervention would contribute to the smooth, secure and transparent conduct of the NEET (UG) 2026 re-examination.
