While the app remains accessible via VPNs, authorities have also directed disabling of message-editing features | Photo Credit: Dado Ruvic

Instant messaging app Telegram has stopped working for existing users in India after the government temporarily restricted access to the app, but it continues to remain operational through Virtual Protocol Network (VPN), according to industry experts.

Google delisted the app on Tuesday, and Apple’s Appstore has also removed it now in compliance with the government order to block access to the app, ahead of the NEET-UG 2026 re-examination.

“Blocking of Telegram will not help the paper leak. It continues to be operational on VPNs which bypass Indian servers and connect with foreign servers for operations,” Voyager Infosec Director, Jiten Jain, told PTI.

Government order triggers app store delisting

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

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

Besides, a separate direction requires Telegram to disable the message-editing feature for already-posted messages in India till June 30, addressing the specific structural feature through which the platform was used to fabricate after-the-event “paper leak” evidence relating to national examinations.

Pavel Durov criticises move, alleges lobbying claims

Telegram CEO Pavel Durov on Tuesday said the ban on its messaging app by the Indian government will not stop paper leaks, instead move it on to other apps.

In a social media post, Durov said that 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.

In a late night post, he alleged that Reliance Group, in which Meta has a partial stake, may have lobbied, along with its competitor WhatsApp, to impose a ban on the company’s app in India.

A senior telecom industry source, who did not wish to be named, termed the allegations as “fake news” as Durov has confused Reliance Communications with Reliance Industries Ltd.

Published on June 17, 2026