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India temporarily blocked access to Telegram until June 22 over allegations that organized cheating networks used the messaging platform to defraud candidates preparing for a national medical entrance examination, the Education Ministry said Tuesday.
The restriction was imposed ahead of the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test, or NEET, re-examination scheduled for June 21.
India’s National Testing Agency said the measure was taken in response to the “organized use of the platform by cheating rackets to defraud candidates appearing for the NEET 2026 re-examination.”
The government described the restriction as limited and temporary and said it regretted the inconvenience caused to Telegram users.
The Indian government canceled the undergraduate medical entrance examination last month after authorities discovered that questions had been leaked before the test.
The leak prompted student protests in several parts of the country, including demonstrations demanding the resignation of Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan.
Authorities scheduled a new examination for June 21.
The government said Telegram had been used by organized groups targeting candidates taking the re-examination.
Officials said previous attempts to remove the relevant content from the platform had not produced results, leading the government to describe the temporary block as a measure of last resort.
The block was imposed under a provision of India’s information technology law that allows the government to restrict access to online services in the interest of the country’s sovereignty and integrity.
Activists have criticized the provision, saying it has been used to restrict freedom of expression.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government has said its actions comply with the law and serve the public interest.
The government said Telegram would remain restricted until June 22, one day after the rescheduled examination.
The application remained accessible in India until at least 6:30 a.m. GMT on Tuesday.
India is Telegram’s largest market by downloads, although WhatsApp remains the country’s dominant messaging platform.
The temporary restriction represents a broad intervention affecting a service used for communication beyond politics and news.
The government said the decision would affect hundreds of thousands of people but was necessary because earlier efforts to address the content had failed.
Telegram did not immediately comment on the allegations or the restriction.
Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea, which together serve more than 1 billion mobile connections in India, did not immediately respond to questions about whether they had received or begun implementing the blocking order.
Google, which operates the Play Store used by many Indian users to download Telegram, also did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Apple did not immediately say whether it had been instructed to restrict access to the application in India.
The government said the measure would remain in place only for the specified period surrounding the NEET re-examination.
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