The National Testing Agency (NTA) has explained why Telegram's message-editing feature has been disabled in India until June 30 ahead of the NEET (UG) 2026 re-examination.In a statement issued on Tuesday, the agency claimed that the feature had been misused in recent examinations to create fake evidence of paper leaks. According to NTA, Telegram allows administrators to edit previously posted messages, including replacing attached files such as PDFs, while keeping the original timestamp unchanged.
The agency said this made it possible for a channel administrator to edit an old, harmless message after an examination had concluded and insert the actual question paper into it. Screenshots of the edited post could then be circulated as purported proof that the paper had been available before the examination.
NTA said these edited posts were used to create false narratives of question paper leaks and examination malpractice. "The feature, in its present form, permits a channel administrator to edit the content of a previously posted message, including the substitution of attached files such as PDFs, while the original send-time stamp is retained," the agency said.The decision to disable the feature was taken to prevent the creation of such fabricated "paper leak" evidence during the period following the NEET (UG) 2026 re-examination scheduled for June 21.
The action forms part of a broader crackdown on alleged fraud and misinformation linked to the examination. Under directions issued by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), access to Telegram in India has also been temporarily restricted until June 22.Several Telegram channels had been targeting students and parents by claiming to offer access to examination papers in exchange for money. Some of the channels allegedly operated under names such as "PAPER LEAKED NEET", "Re-NEET 2026", "Private Mafia" and "REE NEET MAFIAA", NTA said.The agency reiterated that "there is no such paper available outside the secured examination chain" and said any promise of access to the question paper before the examination is fraudulent.
