India has issued an order to block Telegram until June 22, citing concerns that fraudsters are using the messaging platform to target students ahead of a re-test of the country’s biggest entrance exam.

The move was announced on Tuesday by India’s National Testing Agency, which administers the National Eligibility Entrance Test (Undergraduate) (NEET [UG]), a medical college entrance exam taken by millions of students each year. The Agency said the restrictions were aimed at preventing people from using Telegram to sell fake exam papers and spread misinformation before the June 21 re-test of NEET.

The restrictions include a nationwide temporary ban on Telegram until June 22, a day after the re-test. The Agency also wants the platform to disable its message-editing feature until June 30, arguing that the feature has been used to fabricate evidence of exam paper leaks after tests have been conducted.

“Both measures have been taken in the interest of public order, in response to the organized use of the platform by cheating rackets to defraud candidates appearing for the NEET (UG) 2026 re-examination,” the agency said.

The order was issued under Section 69A of India’s Information Technology Act, the country’s legal mechanism for blocking online services and content, the agency said.

Telegram CEO Pavel Durov criticized the move in a post on X, saying the week-long restriction would punish more than 150 million users in India rather than those responsible for leaking exam materials.

Durov also questioned the effectiveness of the measure, arguing that “the leaks just moved to other apps.”

In a subsequent post on his Telegram channel, Durov said the company had removed hundreds of channels linked to leaked exam materials and related scams in India in recent weeks. He added that Telegram had made its “edited” label more prominent to help prevent so-called backdating scams.

Durov later broadened his criticism of the restrictions, alleging in another Telegram post that Indian telecom operator Reliance was disrupting access to Telegram for some users outside India through unauthorized internet routing announcements. Reliance did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The ban drew immediate criticism from digital rights advocates. Advocacy group Internet Freedom Foundation said the restrictions were a “disproportionate” response to exam fraud, and questioned whether Section 69A permits the government to block an entire platform rather than specific content.

“Shutting down Telegram is a band aid solution and a disproportionate answer to exam fraud,” the group said in a statement.

Defending the move, NTA Director General Abhishek Singh said some channels were being operated through VPNs or from outside India, but argued that limiting access would still reduce the pool of potential victims.

“Even though they can continue operating the channels, if there is no clientele, the fraud will be prevented, and the students will be protected,” Singh told local media.

The re-test is being organized after NEET (UG) was rocked by a paper leak scandal last month, prompting a federal investigation and renewed scrutiny of the exam system. Indian authorities have since sought to tighten security around such national tests.

India is Telegram’s largest market globally, according to Sensor Tower, with an estimated 354 million monthly active users and nearly 600 million downloads since launch. 

Telegram remained accessible to some users in India at the time of publication, and its message-editing feature appeared to function normally, even as Google removed the app from its Play Store in the country following the government’s announcement.

The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Note: This story was updated to add comments from Telegram’s CEO and NTA’s director general.