India has temporarily restricted access to the messaging platform Telegram following concerns that it was being used to facilitate exam malpractice ahead of a major medical entrance test.
The move comes just days before millions of students are due to retake the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test – Undergraduate (NEET-UG) on 21 June, after the original May sitting was cancelled over alleged question paper leakage.
The National Testing Agency (National Testing Agency), which oversees the exam, backed the decision, saying it followed the “organised use of the platform [Telegram] by cheating rackets to defraud candidates”.
However, the restriction has drawn criticism from internet users and digital rights groups, who argue it amounts to a “band-aid solution” that fails to address deeper issues around examination fraud in the country.
Telegram has not yet responded to the development. The BBC has contacted the platform for comment. At the time of reporting, the app was still accessible in India, and the enforcement mechanism for the restriction remains unclear.
The controversy has once again pushed NEET-UG back into national attention. Nearly 2.28 million candidates sat for the exam on 3 May at more than 5,000 centres across India, but it was cancelled within days after allegations of a paper leak triggered nationwide protests.
The case is currently under investigation by the Central Bureau of Investigation, with more than a dozen arrests already made.
Earlier disruptions linked to NEET-UG, alongside separate controversies over grading in a major school-leaving examination, have fuelled protests demanding the resignation of the federal education minister.
The 2024 edition of NEET also faced similar allegations, including claims of paper leaks, fraud, and irregularities in grace mark allocation after unusually high scores were recorded among thousands of candidates.
On Tuesday, the National Testing Agency said the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology had directed that Telegram access in India be restricted until 22 June, one day after the retest.
The agency also said the ministry had instructed Telegram to disable its message-editing feature until 30 June, arguing it had been used to “fabricate” evidence related to paper leaks.
The National Testing Agency added that the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre had taken down a “substantial number of Telegram channels, groups and bots whose names and content openly advertised their fraudulent and misleading purpose”, acting on intelligence shared by the NTA and other agencies.
It further alleged that operators of several channels had demanded hundreds of thousands of rupees from candidates and families in exchange for supposed access to the re-examination paper, stressing that “there is no such paper available outside the secured examination chain”.
The NTA said it regretted “the inconvenience” the restriction would cause for users who rely on Telegram for “legitimate personal, educational, professional and informational purposes”.
While authorities frame the move as part of a crackdown on exam fraud, critics say it is disproportionate.
The Internet Freedom Foundation (IFF), a digital rights advocacy group in India, described the action as lacking transparency and being unconstitutional.
“The block of Telegram is reactive and ineffective and will punish ordinary users instead of addressing the systemic source of exam leaks. This blocking comes in the final days of NEET preparation, when thousands of students depend on Telegram for study groups, doubt-clearing, and shared resources,” IFF said.
It added that banning Telegram would not stop leaks occurring within the education system, including those linked to insiders and vulnerabilities across printing and logistics networks.
