Telegram has once again found itself at the centre of major controversy in India. The platform is now making headlines after the Indian government announced a temporary ban on the messaging platform until next week. The authorities have mentioned that the action is tied directly to protecting the integrity of the NEET-UG 2026 re-examination after a major exam leak that happened previously and affected over 2 million students in India. But the question is, why only Telegram is getting the heat, why people are talking about piracy and fake chatbots.
The Telegram chatbot was imposed under Section 69A of the Information Technology Act, 2000, following recommendations from the National Testing Agency (NTA). According to government authorities, the move was aimed at preventing organised cheating networks from disrupting the NEET-UG 2026 re-examination scheduled for June 21.
The original examination was compromised after a large-scale paper leak incident in May and forced authorities to conduct a fresh test. Officials believed Telegram had become a key distribution channel for misinformation, fake question papers and financial scams targeting students preparing for the re-exam.
Unlike a permanent ban, the current order is time-bound. Access to Telegram has been suspended until June 22, while additional platform-specific restrictions remain in place until June 30.
This is not the first time an exam leak has happened. Telegram channels have openly advertised access to leaked examination papers. These groups allegedly used names such as “PAPER LEAKED NEET”, “Private Mafia” and “REE NEET MAFIAA” to attract students.
Investigators say several Telegram channels openly advertise access to so-called leaked examination papers. Some of the biggest examinations, like CBSE and entrance tests groups, are also easily seen on the platform, but the credibility of them can be questioned.
Also read: Pavel Durov reacts to Telegram ban in India, claims Reliance and WhatsApp might be behind it
Authorities claim these operations charge anywhere between Rs 5,000 and Rs 25,000 for basic access, while some premium offerings reportedly demanded as much as Rs 10 lakh from individual students.
Investigations conducted by the Ahmedabad Cyber Crime Cell reportedly uncovered money flows exceeding Rs 1.5 crore through temporary mule accounts in a single month. One interstate gang allegedly collected information from more than 1,000 students within less than 30 days.
As per the reports, scammers are exploiting the feature by uploading harmless files or messages before an examination begins. Once the exam concluded and the genuine question paper became publicly available, the original content was allegedly replaced with the actual paper.
Telegram preserves the original timestamp after edits; the altered message can appear as if the exam paper had been uploaded hours before the test. Authorities argue that this created a convincing but misleading trail suggesting that a leak had occurred.
Officials believe this capability contributed to widespread panic among students and undermined confidence in the examination process. As part of the government’s directives, Telegram has reportedly been asked to disable message-editing functionality for users in India until June 30, 2026.
This is not the first time Telegram has faced criticism for hosting piracy networks, fake AI chatbots and illicit communities. The platform has served as a hub for data leaks, fake chatbots, and exam leaks. Last year, we also broke the story about a Telegram bot selling personal information such as Aadhar numbers, father’s names, addresses and other details for just Rs 99. To be honest, that was not the only bot we were able to find, and there are thousands more out there.
Not only that, you can find pirated movies, web series and other content on these channels. Some of them take you to the third party platforms which are dangerous, while some of them ask you to download apks or open the platform, which can lead to scams, compromised data and accounts.
The government agencies argued that the temporary Telegram ban was necessary because the platform had become a major channel for fake paper leaks, financial scams, piracy networks and anonymous communities targeting students. And after this NEET-UG 2026 paper leak controversy, authorities now fear misinformation campaigns can undermine the re-examination scheduled for June 21.
Beyond exams, the platform has faced repeated criticism for hosting fake chatbots, pirated content and data-selling bots, prompting officials to describe the restriction as a preventive measure.
On the other hand, Telegram has moved to the High Court against the Indian government’s decision to ban the platform. As per news agency ANI, the matter was mentioned before the bench of justice Tajas Karia and the decision can arrive in a few days.
Telegram CEO Parvel Durov said, “And the ban hasn’t stopped anything. The leaks just moved to other apps. Indian telecom Reliance is sabotaging access to Telegram for millions of users OUTSIDE India (including the UAE) via a rogue method called BGP hijacking. The sabotage seems intentional, as Reliance has ignored multiple reports.”