Telegram Resurfaces On Google Play Store: The free cloud-based instant messaging app, Telegram, is now back on India's Google Play Store and Apple App Store. The app was unavailable for a week for users but has now quietly resurfaced on Tuesday morning, which marks an end to the temporary ban that the government had put on the app during the high-stakes NEET-UG (National Entrance Cum Eligibility Test) re-examination.
Users have also reported that the app is now functioning like it used to, with messages being normally delivered, although the message editing feature of the app is still on hold till June 30, 2026, which was one of the major reasons behind the ban and mass public panic.
This ban came to an end on June 22, 2026, and was put in place from June 16, 2026, although this ban on the instant messaging app sparked debates on the extent of government powers to curb online platforms and people's freedom of speech, which forms a core component of fundamental rights enshrined in the Indian constitution.
Here one must note that restriction was not just about the app but also about what the app was being used for. This was a move taken to curb examination-related fraud in the country, and the ban was imposed on recommendations of the NTA. India conducted the NEET examination recently, which was compromised due to its leak, which led to massive uprisings in the country from the youth and students who were appearing for the examination to get admissions to medical colleges.
This ban was put in place to curb potential paper leaks, the spread of misinformation and cheating networks before the NEET-UG 2026 re-examination took place, which was scheduled for June 21. Indian authorities had reached out to Google, Apple and telecom operators to restrict access to the Telegram app before the re-examination of NEET-UG took place. The investigators suggested that the app was being used to circulate leaked exam papers.
Why Ban Only Telegram?
After the results of the NEET exam were scrapped by the government due to an alleged leak of the question paper, the government suggested that the Telegram app was a special case and posed a specific problem. The message editing feature came into focus here, which could be exploited to create fake or false impressions that the exam paper was leaked before the exam. Scammers were exploiting older posts that had been published weeks earlier, editing them only after the exam had taken place and adding the leaked questions. Since the original posting date remained unchanged, it falsely appeared as though the questions had been shared before the exam, creating the illusion of a pre-exam leak.
Officials also argued that the Telegram app allows blocked channels to be recreated without any problems with ease and also gives the users the ability to conceal their identities through phone numbers, encrypted chats and user-based interactions. The government suggests that these features create specialised problems and are a "persistent enforcement challenge" as it becomes difficult to curb the rapid spread of leaked examination material.
The ban was only on Telegram, and within a few hours of the order being passed, it was taken down from the app stores of both Google and Apple, and telecom operators had also restricted its access.
Delhi High Court Backed Government Order
Telegram was not successful in its defence to overturn the government's order and had failed to persuade the Delhi High Court for the same. Telegram argued that this temporary ban was infringing upon constitutional rights and curbing freedom of speech and access to information. The court nevertheless backed the steps taken by the government and ruled the actions were actually legal and in line with the current emergency scenario, and a reasonable temporary ban was necessary to preserve one of the biggest national examinations' integrity.
Telegram Says It Took The Necessary Steps
The decision to block Telegram came after several days of behind-the-scenes discussions between the company and Indian authorities. According to a Reuters report, government officials expressed concerns that Telegram had not acted quickly enough against accounts allegedly involved in circulating leaked examination papers.
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Telegram disputed that view in proceedings before the Delhi High Court. The company said the government's submissions did not fully reflect the steps it had already taken to curb the spread of such leaked examination-related content. As part of its response, Telegram stated that it had removed more than 900 links connected to illegal leaks of exam-related material.
The issue also drew a response from Telegram founder Pavel Durov, who publicly criticised the restrictions. Durov argued that the ban primarily affected regular users, while those allegedly responsible for sharing leaked examination material had already shifted to other platforms and channels.