By NE NOW NEWS
Guwahati: The National Testing Agency (NTA) on Tuesday announced that access to the messaging platform Telegram will be temporarily restricted across India following directions issued by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY).
The decision comes ahead of the NEET (UG) 2026 re-examination and is aimed at preventing the spread of unauthorised information and misinformation that could affect the conduct of the country’s largest medical entrance test.
According to the NTA, the restrictions have been imposed under Section 69A of the Information Technology Act, 2000, which empowers the government to block public access to online platforms or content under specific circumstances.
As per the directive, Telegram services will remain inaccessible in India until June 22, covering both the examination day and the immediate post-exam period. Authorities believe the temporary measure will help curb the circulation of speculative claims, unverified content and misleading messages related to the examination.
The government has also instructed Telegram to suspend its message-editing functionality for users in India. The restriction on editing previously sent messages will continue until June 30, 2026.
Officials cited concerns that edited messages could be misused to falsely portray prior knowledge of examination questions or to create fabricated narratives surrounding alleged paper leaks after the test has been conducted.
The NTA emphasised that the measures are temporary and have been introduced to protect the credibility of the examination process. The agency said the objective is to ensure a fair testing environment, preserve public trust and prevent the spread of false information during a sensitive period for lakhs of NEET aspirants across the country.
The restrictions will automatically lapse after the specified deadlines unless further directions are issued by the authorities.