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At the National Testing Agency (NTA)’s request, the Union authorities is blocking the messaging app Telegram successful India for a week until Monday (June 22, 2026), pursuing what the NTA described arsenic a “response to the organised usage of the level by cheating rackets to defraud candidates appearing for the NEET (UG) 2026 re-examination scheduled connected 21 June 2026.”
This is the archetypal clip that a messaging app operating astatine specified a standard is being blocked successful India by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, adjacent for a constricted period.
There are respective Telegram groups circulating everything from pirated links to existent clip quality updates from established organisations; the level has attracted galore users with features not typically recovered connected WhatsApp and Signal, specified arsenic integrating bots into the platform.
A Telegram spokesperson did not instantly respond to a petition for comment. While Telegram has taken down groups and contented successful radical chats — which are not end-to-end encrypted connected the platform — the level does not look to person ever voluntarily disabled entree to its services successful immoderate state astatine a government’s request.
The NTA emphasised that this blocking was “calibrated and bounded successful time,” and that it would beryllium lifted later.
The bureau said that respective Telegram groups were advertizing fake exam papers for the upcoming NEET exam and defrauding candidates consenting to wage for them.
“Acting connected inputs received continuously from NTA, from State law-enforcement agencies including the constabulary forces of Bihar, Gujarat and Rajasthan, and from its ain continuous monitoring of nationalist channels and platforms, the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C), nether the Ministry of Home Affairs, has secured the punctual take-down of a important fig of Telegram channels, groups and bots whose names and contented openly advertised their fraudulent and misleading purpose,” NTA said.
Additionally, galore groups, the NTA said, were editing past messages with caller exam insubstantial questions, to fake their capabilities successful obta.0000
ce. In abstracted directions, the IT Ministry said that it had ordered Telegram to disable connection editing arsenic good until June 30, to unopen disconnected “this avenue of fabrication for the post-examination model successful which specified artefacts person historically been deployed.”
“NTA acknowledges that the entree regularisation issued by MeitY affects lakhs of citizens who usage the Telegram level for morganatic personal, educational, nonrecreational and informational purposes, and sincerely regrets the inconvenience caused to them,” the bureau said successful its statement.
