Telegram ban hits 150 million India users amid NEET-UG 2026 re-exam
Synopsis
India blocked Telegram for 150 million users to stop NEET-UG 2026 exam leaks — and ordered the app to kill its editing feature until 30 June. CEO Pavel Durov confirmed the ban on X, saying hundreds of leak-sharing channels had already been removed. Google and Apple pulled the app from Indian stores. It is one of the most sweeping platform interventions in India's exam-integrity history.
Key Takeaways
Pavel Durov confirmed on X that India's temporary Telegram ban affected more than 150 million users .
The Indian IT ministry suspended Telegram until 22 June 2025 ahead of the NEET-UG 2026 re-examination on 21 June .
Telegram's message-editing feature has been separately ordered disabled in India until 30 June to prevent timestamp manipulation.
Telegram removed hundreds of channels allegedly sharing leaked exam materials and running related scams.
Google and Apple removed Telegram from their Indian app stores in compliance with the government order.
The re-examination was necessitated by alleged question paper leaks during the original NEET-UG test held on 3 May .
Telegram founder and CEO Pavel Durov has confirmed that the Indian government's temporary suspension of the messaging platform affected more than 150 million users in India, a block imposed ahead of the NEET-UG 2026 re-examination scheduled for 21 June. In a post on social media platform X, Durov said India's IT ministry banned Telegram for one week after some users shared leaked exam questions on the platform.
What Triggered the Ban
The Indian government ordered the suspension of Telegram services until 22 June following recommendations from the National Testing Agency (NTA), which conducts NEET-UG for admissions to undergraduate medical colleges across the country. Authorities acted after allegations of question paper leaks during the original examination held on 3 May prompted a fresh test to be scheduled.
Alongside the outright suspension, authorities directed Telegram to disable its message-editing feature in India until 30 June. According to the NTA, investigators believe the feature had previously been misused to fabricate misleading evidence of leaks — specifically, by editing messages after examination papers had already been circulated, creating a false impression of prior disclosure.
Telegram's Response
Durov said the company had removed hundreds of channels in recent weeks that were allegedly sharing leaked examination materials and running related scams targeting Indian students. He added that Telegram is working to make the edited label on messages more visually prominent, a measure intended to prevent backdating scams and timestamp manipulation.
This comes amid growing scrutiny of messaging platforms in India over their role in facilitating exam malpractice. Notably, this is among the most sweeping platform-level interventions by Indian authorities in recent memory, directly affecting one of the country's largest messaging user bases.
App Stores Comply
Google and Apple have already removed Telegram from their respective app stores in India in compliance with the government's directive, further limiting access for users who had not previously installed the application.
What Happens Next
The ban is set to lift on 22 June, one day after the NEET-UG re-examination. The editing-feature restriction, however, remains in place through 30 June. Regulatory and legal scrutiny of Telegram's content-moderation practices in India is likely to continue well beyond the exam window, with the NTA's investigation into the original leak still ongoing.
Point of View
But the deeper issue is structural: the government is using blunt platform-level bans to patch systemic failures in exam security. Disabling an editing feature and pulling an app from stores does not address the upstream problem of how question papers are leaked in the first place. The NTA has faced repeated integrity controversies, and each crisis produces a reactive tech fix rather than a reform of the examination pipeline. Holding a platform responsible for the conduct of its users is a precedent that will outlast the NEET re-exam — and the legal and regulatory consequences for Telegram's India operations are far from settled.
NationPress
5 Aug 2026
Frequently Asked Questions
Why was Telegram banned in India ahead of NEET-UG 2026?
The Indian government temporarily suspended Telegram until 22 June following recommendations from the National Testing Agency (NTA), after some users allegedly shared leaked NEET-UG 2026 question papers on the platform. The move was part of measures to prevent malpractice during the re-examination scheduled for 21 June.
How many users were affected by the Telegram ban in India?
More than 150 million Telegram users in India were affected, according to CEO Pavel Durov, who disclosed the figure in a post on social media platform X.
Why was Telegram's message-editing feature disabled in India?
Authorities directed Telegram to disable the message-editing feature in India until 30 June because investigators at the NTA believe it was misused to fabricate evidence of question paper leaks — by editing messages after papers had already been circulated to create a false impression of prior disclosure.
Have Google and Apple complied with the India Telegram ban?
Yes. Both Google and Apple removed Telegram from their respective Indian app stores in compliance with the government's directive, restricting access for users who had not already installed the application.
What action did Telegram take against exam-leak channels?
Telegram removed hundreds of channels that were allegedly sharing leaked examination materials and running related scams targeting Indian students, according to CEO Pavel Durov.
