Govt blocks Telegram app before NEET
In a stringent step taken to safeguard the integrity of the re-NEET examination on June 21, following the cancellation of the May 3 exam over malpractice allegations, the Union Government on Tuesday ordered Google and Apple to delist the Telegram app from their app stores till June 22 to check any further paper leaks. The decision of the Government to single out Telegram has however earned criticism from digital advocacy and public policy entities.
This is part of the Government measures to ensure fool-proof security for the re-conduct of the entrance, which has brought a poor image on the machineries as the NEET entrance conducted by NTA has met with similar fate in past as well. Being monitored by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, there is a full involvement of Cabinet Secretary and Home Secretary, who has directed that security protocols should strictly be adhered to and that the exam should be conducted in a flawless manner.
Explaining the rationale behind the restrictions on Telegram, NTA Director General Abhishek Singh said the restriction on Telegram till June 22 was part of efforts to ensure that the June 21 re-test is conducted without malpractice. “We will not let anything go wrong. We will take all possible actions to ensure that the examination is conducted without any malpractice,” said Singh.
Singh further told The Pioneer that paramilitary forces as well as the Air Force are being used to ensure the highest order of security measures. He said NTA has ensured complete security in all processes - right from the stage of making the question papers to translation into 12 Indian languages, to printing, packaging and movement.
He justified use of Air Force for logistics because the timeframe for conducting the examination is very short.
NTA and IIT Madras justified the temporary restriction on Telegram citing instances where the platform was allegedly used to fabricate evidence of question paper leaks through edited messages carrying old timestamps.
Google has hence removed messaging app Telegram from its Play Store, and Apple is likely to follow suit in compliance with a Government order, sources aware of the development said on Tuesday.
The nationwide examination is conducted by the National Testing Agency (NTA) for admission to undergraduate medical institutes. The agency cancelled the previous exam held on May 3 amid allegations of paper leak. Existing Telegram accounts continued to remain operational. While Apple’s App Store was showing the app, the new account could not be activated on iPhones.
The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), acting on recommendations made by the NTA, has issued a direction under Section 69A of the Information Technology Act, 2000, restricting access to the Telegram platform in India for a defined and limited period ending June 22, 2026, covering the day of the NEET (UG) 2026 re-examination and its immediate aftermath.
Government said the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C), under the Ministry of Home Affairs, has served as the principal nodal agency, coordinating the operational response to the Telegram-based fraud and misinformation targeting NEET candidates.
According to the agency, acting on inputs from the NTA, state law enforcement agencies, including the police forces of Bihar, Gujarat and Rajasthan, and its own monitoring efforts, I4C secured the prompt takedown of a “substantial number” of Telegram channels, groups and bots that openly advertised fraudulent and misleading purposes.
Digital advocacy group The Internet Freedom Foundation criticised the Government’s curbs on Telegram and disabling its message-editing feature ahead of the NEET-UG 2026 re-exam, calling the move a band-aid solution and a “disproportionate” response to exam fraud.
