CEO Pavel Durov reacts to Telegram's India ban till NEET re-exam — ‘Leaks just moved to other apps’

Telegram founder and CEO Pavel Durov reacted to India's ban on the messaging platform until 22 June, a day after the NEET re-exam, and said it would not stop anything — “Leaks just moved to other apps.”

The move comes as authorities seek to prevent cheating and curb the spread of misinformation linked to the country's largest medical entrance examination.

Here's what Telegram CEO said:

“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,” Durov said in an X post.

“And the ban hasn't stopped anything. The leaks just moved to other apps,” he added.

Why has Telegram been restricted?

The decision comes weeks after the NEET UG 2026 examination was cancelled amid allegations of irregularities and claims of a paper leak.

The examination, which was originally scheduled for May 3, was scrapped following the controversy. The re-examination is now scheduled for June 21, with heightened security measures in place.

Officials have maintained that the temporary Telegram restriction is intended to disrupt channels that could be used to circulate leaked examination material or spread misleading information about the test.

How did NTA react?

The National Testing Agency (NTA) welcomed the decision, stating that it was aimed at maintaining the integrity of the examination process.

According to the government, organised cheating networks have allegedly used Telegram to defraud candidates appearing for NEET UG. The messaging platform will remain inaccessible in India until June 22.

How was the ban justified?

The block was issued under Section 69A of India's Information Technology Act, 2000, a provision that allows the central government to restrict access to online platforms in the interest of "sovereignty and integrity of India."

Separately, the government also ordered Telegram to disable its message-editing feature for all Indian users until 30 June 2026.

Technology giants Alphabet's Google and Apple both received government directives to remove the Telegram application from their respective app stores temporarily, and sources with direct knowledge of the matter confirmed they will comply.

The government acknowledged that the measure would cause inconvenience, describing it as unavoidable after earlier targeted actions to remove offending content had not produced the desired results.

IFF challenges legal basis of the ban

The Internet Freedom Foundation has raised substantive objections to the decision, arguing that the government has invoked a law that does not actually permit the actions it has taken.

In a detailed statement released on Tuesday, the organisation said: “Section 69A and the Blocking Rules of 2009 framed under it allow the Government to block access to specific 'information' on a computer resource. They do not extend to switching off an entire intermediary, still less to ordering a company to redesign its product by removing a feature for a whole country.”