The National Testing Agency (NTA) on Tuesday welcomed the Centre's decision to temporarily restrict access to Telegram in India ahead of the NEET-UG 2026 re-examination scheduled for June 21.
According to the NTA, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) has directed a temporary restriction on Telegram services until June 22. The ministry has also instructed the platform to disable its message-editing feature in India until June 30.
The agency said the measures were introduced to prevent examination-related fraud and the spread of misinformation targeting candidates. According to the NTA, several Telegram channels allegedly claimed to have access to the NEET re-examination paper and sought money from candidates and their families in exchange for it. The agency described these claims as fraudulent.
The NTA stated that disabling the message-editing feature is intended to prevent the creation of misleading content, including edited messages that could be presented as evidence of paper leaks by retaining older timestamps.
While acknowledging that the restrictions may inconvenience regular Telegram users, the agency said the measures are temporary and aimed at protecting the integrity of the examination process. It reiterated that the NEET-UG 2026 re-examination will be conducted as scheduled on June 21 and advised candidates to rely on official NTA communication channels for updates.
The NTA also expressed appreciation to MeitY, the Ministry of Home Affairs, the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C), the Central Bureau of Investigation, and state police forces for their efforts in addressing examination-related fraud.
Sources: Hindustan Times
