Guwahati: The National Testing Agency has welcomed the Centre’s decision to impose temporary restrictions on Telegram in India, describing it as a necessary step to curb examination-related fraud ahead of the NEET-UG 2026 re-examination scheduled for 21st June.
As per an NTA statement, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), acting on recommendations from the agency, has directed a temporary restriction on access to Telegram in India until 22nd June. The government has also instructed the platform to disable its message-editing feature in the country until 30th June for precautionary measure.
The NTA said the measures are aimed at preventing organised cheating networks from exploiting the platform to circulate false claims of question paper leaks and defraud students appearing for the medical entrance examination.
The agency noted that Telegram’s message-editing feature was allegedly being misused to create misleading evidence of “paper leaks” after examinations. It explained that channel administrators could edit older posts and replace attachments with question papers after an exam, while retaining original timestamps, which were then circulated as proof of leaks.
The NTA credited the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C) under the Ministry of Home Affairs for coordinating action against Telegram-based fraud networks. Several channels, groups and bots promoting fake NEET paper leaks have already been taken down.
The agency also cited recent enforcement actions by state police units, including advisories in Bihar and arrests by the Ahmedabad City Cyber Crime Branch in connection with an inter-state fraud network.
The NTA repeated that no NEET question paper exists outside the secure examination system and urged students not to trust any claims of paper leaks circulating on social media.
It added that the restrictions are temporary and will not affect users ability to send or receive messages. The NEET UG 2026 re-examination will be conducted on 21st June, this time assuring that the integrity and security of the exam remain intact.