The temporary restrictions on Telegram’s messaging services were lifted on Tuesday after a nationwide block had been enforced until June 22 in connection with the NEET-UG re-examination. The app is now once again available for download via official app stores, although its editing feature will remain disabled until June 30.

Last week, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) had blocked Telegram across India until June 22 as a precautionary step ahead of the NEET re-exam. The action was taken after allegations that the platform failed to stop the spread of fake question papers, misleading content, and other fraudulent material related to the exam. Prior to the ban, government officials had met Telegram representatives on June 3 to address these concerns.

Following these developments, the Centre restricted access to the app and its web services, including the browser version, until June 22. The NEET re-examination was held on June 21, and authorities reported no incidents of malpractice during the process. Telegram CEO Pavel Durov had criticised India’s decision to temporarily block the platform, arguing that it unfairly affected over 150 million genuine users instead of those responsible for circulating leaked exam content. He also claimed that such restrictions would not effectively prevent the spread of sensitive material and would likely push it to other platforms.

Durov further alleged that Reliance, indirectly referring to Reliance Jio, may have lobbied alongside WhatsApp to influence the restriction decision in India. Reliance Jio denied these claims, stating that it follows global standards of transparency, security, and reliability. The company also rejected any involvement in a reported BGP route misconfiguration, dismissing the allegations completely.