Telegram founder Pavel Durov said the temporary ban on the messaging app in India may not prevent paper leaks, as offenders could shift to other platforms. | Photo Credit: Dado Ruvic

The ban on messaging app Telegram by the government is unlikely to curb paper leaks as offenders might use other platforms, its founder and CEO, Pavel Durov, said on Tuesday after Google removed the app from its Play Store following an official order.

The government has directed Google and Apple to delist the Telegram app from their app stores till June 22 to curb paper leaks during the upcoming re-examination of the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET-UG) on June 21.

Google has removed messaging app Telegram from its Play Store, and Apple is likely to follow suit in compliance with the order, sources said.

Durov says ban impacts users, not leak perpetrators

In a social media post, Durov said the decision to ban Telegram for a week punishes over 150 million users of the app in India and not the insiders who leaked the exam materials.

“India’s IT ministry banned Telegram for one week because some users shared leaked exam questions. This punishes 150M+ ordinary Telegram users in India — not the insiders who leaked the exam materials. And the ban hasn’t stopped anything. The leaks just moved to other apps,” Durov said.

The nationwide NEET-UG examination is conducted by the National Testing Agency (NTA) for admissions into undergraduate medical institutes. The agency cancelled the previous exam held on May 3 amid allegations of paper leak.

Government defends move ahead of NEET-UG re-test

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,” Singh told PTI.

Android phone users, while trying to download the Telegram app from the Google Play Store, see the message “this app is not available”. Those who have already downloaded the app may face restrictions while using it.

However, existing Telegram accounts continue to remain operational. While Apple’s App Store was showing the app, the new account could not be activated on iPhones.

Government seeks temporary disabling of message editing feature

Sources told PTI that the government is in discussion with Telegram to temporarily disable the message editing feature till June 30, which allows existing users to edit their old messages as well as add any new content.

“The government has asked Google and Apple to delist the app temporarily. Google has done it. Apple will also be doing it,” a source said on condition of anonymity.

Sources said that any individual could search for a group on Telegram and join it without requiring permission from the group administrator.

MeitY cites need to curb misuse of platform

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.

A separate directive requires Telegram to disable in India the message-editing feature for already-posted messages till June 30, addressing the specific structural feature through which the platform has been used to fabricate after-the-event “paper leak” evidence in respect of national examinations, NTA said in a statement.

It 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 rights groups question effectiveness of restrictions

Digital advocacy and public policy entities have raised questions about the effectiveness of the government’s decision.

Public policy firm IGAP said that for an examination of the NEET scale and consequence, the state has a legitimate interest in acting against fake paper-leak claims, organised cheating networks and frauds that can create panic among students and families.

“Restricting access to Telegram affects many ordinary users who may have nothing to do with the misconduct. Students, coaching groups, teachers, professionals, journalists, small businesses and communities also use Telegram for legitimate purposes. So, the issue is not whether the government can act to protect NEET. It clearly can. The harder question is whether a platform-level restriction is the least intrusive way to address a particular pattern of misuse,” IGAP Partner Dhruv Garg said.

He further said that paper leak rumours and exam fraud do not travel only through Telegram. They can move across other platforms and closed groups as well.

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.

In a statement on X, the digital rights advocacy outfit expressed its objection to the directions announced today in the National Testing Agency’s press release.

“Shutting down Telegram is a band-aid solution and is a disproportionate answer to exam fraud,” it said.

Published on June 17, 2026