India blocked access to Telegram this week as part of an investigation into alleged paper leaks during the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test Undergraduate (Neet-UG). Within hours, students and fraud networks moved to alternative platforms or VPNs, limiting the immediate impact.
Prakash, a repeat Neet aspirant from Sultanpur, Uttar Pradesh, said the disruption felt familiar. His original exam on May 3 was canceled after a confirmed leak involving up to 140 questions, forcing a reschedule to June 21. Days before the new date, authorities restricted Telegram. He shifted his notes to WhatsApp, lectures to YouTube, and accessed study material through Google Drive provided by his coaching center.
“No matter what force, no matter what system, as long as the system does not improve, nothing will change,” he said. “The paper appears on Telegram through your system—because of the transport, ministry, that’s where it leaks. Only insiders release the paper.”
According to him, the government’s order targeted the symptom while still missing the root cause. “The biggest problem in this is that the paper gets leaked. Let’s say the toppers are fine. But the average students are the ones affected the most. And middle-class students are trapped in this loop,” he added.
The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology issued two directives under Section 69A of the Information Technology Act. The first removed Telegram from Google and Apple’s Indian app stores until June 22. The second targeted a specific feature: a temporary ban on Telegram’s message-editing function in India until June 30.
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The editing feature had been flagged by the National Testing Agency (NTA) as a loophole. Telegram allows channel administrators to replace attached files within a message while keeping the original timestamp. This let channels retroactively insert documents to make them appear shared before the exam. The NTA identified several channels operating under names like ‘PAPER LEAKED NEET’, ‘Re-Neet 2026’, and ‘Private Mafia’, allegedly charging thousands to lakhs of rupees for purported exam material. The agency stated no authentic leaked papers existed outside the secured examination chain.
Google Trends data showed a sharp increase in searches for “VPN for Telegram” immediately after the restriction took effect on June 16. Search interest, which had been low before the order, surged through the day and peaked on June 17, indicating users were looking for ways to bypass the block rather than stop using the platform.
Telegram’s scale in India added context to the reaction. A Statista survey found that 45 per cent of Indian respondents reported using Telegram regularly, the highest among all surveyed countries. India ranked ahead of Brazil, Mexico, South Africa and Spain, underlining the platform’s importance as a hub for educational communities and coaching groups.
ProtonVPN reported a 150% rise in hourly registrations from India by Thursday evening. Downdetector logged a surge in complaints, with Delhi accounting for 42% of reports, followed by Telangana (31%), Kerala (16%), and Tamil Nadu (10%). StatusGator recorded 1,489 user-submitted reports in the 24 hours after the order. Screenshots of Telegram running normally through VPNs circulated on social media.
NTA Director General Abhishek Singh acknowledged the limits of the ban, noting it couldn’t be foolproof where VPNs were involved but would help reduce the reach of fraudulent channels during the re-examination window.
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For students, the restriction created friction in preparation. Many said legitimate academic ecosystems were disrupted alongside fraudulent channels.
Prakash, who had just learned about VPNs this week, said most aspirants he knew focused on preparation, not bypassing restrictions. “Some students will know how to use a VPN and carry on; many will not. So you end up penalizing the less resourceful student while the determined fraudster routes around it in minutes.”
Similar bans in the past followed a predictable pattern: a temporary disruption, followed by adaptation from both students and fraud networks. The cycle shows that platform-level restrictions alone rarely address the root cause—internal leaks within the examination system.
Telegram’s design—large public channels with minimal moderation, end-to-end encryption in private chats, and generous file-sharing limits—created an environment where student study groups and scam networks coexisted. The message-editing loophole made it useful for fabricating timelines that implied pre-exam access to papers.
Enterprises facing similar security challenges must prioritize cloud optimisation to protect sensitive data.