India has ordered a shutdown of Telegram until June 22 over concerns that scammers are using the messaging platform to target candidates ahead of the re-examination of the country's biggest entrance exam.
The move was announced on Tuesday by the National Testing Authority of India, which administers the National Eligibility Entrance Examination (Undergraduate) (NEET (UG)), the medical college entrance exam taken by millions of students every year. The agency said the restrictions are aimed at preventing cheating networks from using Telegram to sell fake exam questions or spread misinformation ahead of the June 21 NEET reexamination.
The restrictions include a temporary nationwide ban on Telegram until June 22, the day after the re-examination. The agency is also asking platforms to disable message editing functionality until June 30, as the feature is being used to fabricate evidence of leaked exam questions after the exam has been administered.
“Both the steps have been taken to address the systematic use of the platform by fraudsters to defraud candidates appearing for the NEET (UG) re-examination 2026 and to protect public order,” the official said.
The agency said the order was issued under Section 69A of the Indian Information Technology Act, the country's legal mechanism for blocking online services and content.
The move drew immediate criticism from digital rights advocates. Digital advocacy group the Internet Freedom Foundation said the restrictions were a “disproportionate” response to exam fraud and questioned whether Article 69A allowed the government to block entire platforms rather than specific content.
“Closing Telegram is a band-aid solution and a disproportionate response to exam fraud,” the group said in a statement.
The re-examination comes after the NEET (UG) was rocked by a paper leak scandal last month, prompting a federal government investigation and review of the exam system. Indian authorities have since sought to tighten security at these national exams.
India is Telegram's largest market in terms of downloads, and temporary blocks are among the most significant restrictions imposed on the messaging service.
That said, Telegram was still accessible in India at the time this article was published, and its message editing features appeared to be working properly.
Telegram and the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology did not respond to requests for comment.
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