SRINAGAR: The Centre has temporarily restricted access to Telegram in India ahead of the NEET-UG 2026 re-examination, scheduled for June 21, as part of measures aimed at preventing the spread of fake question papers, misinformation and alleged examination-related fraud.
The restrictions, which came into effect on Tuesday, will remain in place until June 22. The government has also directed the messaging platform to disable its message-editing feature until June 30, following recommendations made by the National Testing Agency (NTA).
The move comes amid heightened vigilance by authorities seeking to safeguard the integrity of the medical entrance examination process following the controversy surrounding NEET-UG.
According to officials, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) issued the directions after the NTA raised concerns that channel-specific takedowns on Telegram had proved insufficient in tackling organised networks allegedly attempting to exploit candidates through false claims of paper leaks and examination manipulation.
Welcoming the decision, the NTA said the temporary restrictions were intended to protect candidates from fraud and misinformation circulating online ahead of the re-examination.
The agency stated that several Telegram channels operating under names such as “PAPER LEAKED NEET”, “Re-NEET 2026” and “Private Mafia” had allegedly been soliciting payments ranging from a few thousand rupees to several lakh rupees from candidates and their families in exchange for purported access to examination papers.
Officials said the restrictions form part of a broader strategy to prevent malpractice, curb the circulation of misleading content and ensure a fair and transparent examination process for lakhs of candidates appearing in the re-test.
The NEET-UG 2026 re-examination is scheduled to be conducted across designated centres on June 21 under enhanced security and monitoring arrangements.
