NEET Re-Exam 2026: Candidates Welcome Temporary Ban of Telegram Ahead of Upcoming Exam on June 21

NEET UG Re-Exam 2026: The National Testing Agency recently announced its decision to temporarily restrict access to Telegram ahead og the NEET UG re-exam. The NEET UG 2026 re-examination is scheduled to be held on June 21, 2026. 

According to reports, students appearing for the exams have termed the move a positive step, highlighting their demand for a thorough investigation into the paper leak, which affected students who took the exam on May 3, 2026.

Students have, however, asked for more action on the root cause of the leak. While welcoming the move, students have stressed the importance of catching those who are part of the leak

Students have also called for a restriction on other social media platforms to help prevent paper leaks in the future.

Although students have supported the decision, many have also voiced their scepticism about the same. Students have argued that a restriction on Telegram alone will not limit the impact, as many aspirants rely on the platform to access free study resources.

According to NTA, the restriction addresses the specific feature through which the platform has been used to fabricate after-the-event paper leak evidence with respect to the NEET UG 2026 Exams. As per the NTA, the platform-level restriction applies until Section 69A of the Information Technology Act, 2000. Along with a temporary block, the Ministry has also directed Telegram to disable its message-editing feature in India for messages already posted - a rule which will remain in force until June 30, 2026. NTA has stated that cheating networks actively used these platform features to defraud candidates appearing for the re-exams scheduled for June 21, 2026.

Telegram CEO Pavel Durov Reacts

Telegram CEO Pavel Durov took to social media, stating that the IT Ministry banned Telegram for one week because some users shared leaked exam questions. He added that over 150 million ordinary Telegram users in India are punished in the process. He added that the ban hasn't stopped anything, and the leaks just moved to other apps. 

He further added that over the past few weeks, hundreds of Telegram channels sharing leaked exam materials and related scams in India were removed, and the company has also made the “edited” label more visible to prevent backdating the scams. 

India’s IT ministry banned Telegram for one week because some users shared leaked exam questions.

This punishes 150M+ ordinary Telegram users in India — not the insiders who leaked the exam materials.

And the ban hasn't stopped anything. The leaks just moved to other apps. https://t.co/CzQWN4mXfb

— Pavel Durov (@durov) June 16, 2026

NEET UG Re-Exam on June 21

The National Testing Agency will be conducting the re-exam for NEET UG 2026 on June 21, 2026. The exam will be held in a single session from 2 PM to 5:15 PM. The ministry has brought in several security reforms to make sure that the exams are conducted smoothly. The Ministry has sought help from the Indian Air Force to transport the papers under tight security to the exam centres to curb any leaks or claims of leaks until the exam. With the examination conducted on May 3, 2026, cancelled due to an exam paper leak, which was caught a week after the exams were conducted, NTA and the Ministry of Education are taking every step possible to make sure that no complaints emerge this time and the examination is conducted fairly.