The National Testing Agency (NTA) has supported the Centre’s decision to impose temporary restrictions on Telegram in India ahead of the NEET-UG 2026 re-examination scheduled for June 21. The agency has said the measure is aimed at preventing examination-related fraud, misinformation and false claims of question paper leaks.
According to media reports, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), acting on recommendations from the NTA, has directed a temporary restriction on access to Telegram in India until June 22. The government has also instructed the platform to disable its message-editing feature in India until June 30.
The NTA has stated that the restrictions have been introduced to prevent organised cheating networks from using the platform to spread misleading claims about paper leaks and to defraud students appearing for the medical entrance examination.
The agency has raised concerns over Telegram’s message-editing feature, stating that it has allegedly been used to create fabricated evidence of paper leaks. According to the NTA, channel administrators have been able to edit older posts and replace attachments with examination question papers after exams have concluded while retaining the original timestamp. These edited posts have then been circulated as proof of advance access to question papers.
Officials have said that temporarily disabling the editing feature has helped prevent the creation and circulation of such misleading content during the post-examination period.
The NTA has credited the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C) under the Ministry of Home Affairs for coordinating action against Telegram-based fraud and misinformation campaigns. The agency has said that several Telegram channels, groups and bots promoting fake promises of NEET question papers have already been taken down.
The statement has also highlighted enforcement action by state agencies. Bihar Police has issued a public advisory warning students against fraudulent claims related to examination papers. Meanwhile, the Ahmedabad City Cyber Crime Branch has reportedly arrested members of an inter-state cyber fraud gang allegedly operating multiple Telegram channels. Investigators have claimed that the network handled transactions worth around Rs 1.5 crore and contacted nearly 1,000 mobile numbers within a month.
The NTA has reiterated that no NEET question paper exists outside the secured examination process and has warned candidates against trusting claims made on social media and messaging platforms. The agency has said that several Telegram channels allegedly demanded payments ranging from a few thousand rupees to several lakh rupees in exchange for purported access to the re-examination paper and has described all such offers as fraudulent.
Acknowledging inconvenience to legitimate users, the NTA has said the access restriction is limited to the examination period and will end on June 22. The agency has added that the temporary suspension of the message-editing feature has not affected users’ ability to send or receive new messages.
The NTA has maintained that the NEET-UG 2026 re-examination will be conducted as scheduled on June 21 and has assured students that the security and integrity of the examination remain intact. Candidates have been advised to rely only on official NTA communications and its website for examination-related updates and to report any fraudulent approaches to cybercrime authorities.
