Telegram Ban To Be Lifted In India Today, Message-Editing Restriction Stays In Place Till June 30

Telegram's temporary ban in India is scheduled to be lifted today, as per the timeline set by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY). However, the platform's message-editing feature for previously sent texts will remain restricted in the country until June 30.

As of the time of writing, Telegram had not yet been restored for users, and the app's listings were still missing from both the Apple App Store and Google Play Store in India. There is no clarity on when Telegram will be back live.

MeitY to lift ban on June 22

According to the official MeitY directive, the full access restriction was slated to be reviewed and lifted on June 22, with the message-editing feature remaining restricted until June 30, 2026. The restoration of access does not necessarily mean an immediate return to normalcy for users, given the separate, longer timeline attached to the editing feature.

Network rollback may take time

Even after the order takes effect, Telegram's access status may change as internet service providers implement or roll back enforcement, meaning users may need to check their carrier's network for current availability rather than expect instant restoration. App store relistings have historically lagged behind network-level unblocking in similar cases, and there was no confirmation yet of when Telegram would reappear on app marketplaces in India.

Why was Telegram banned in India?

The ban traces back to the NEET (UG) 2026 medical entrance exam crisis. MeitY invoked Section 69A of the Information Technology Act, 2000, to implement the restriction, acting on formal recommendations from the National Testing Agency. The NTA had sought a temporary restriction on Telegram access in India ahead of the NEET (UG) 2026 re-examination held on June 21, after channels on the platform were found selling leaked exam questions.

An Indian court had earlier rejected an appeal by Telegram against the ban, with Delhi High Court judge Tejas Karia ruling that the government's orders were reasoned and had followed legal procedure. Telegram, in its court filings, said it had taken down more than 900 links involving unlawful exam-related content, and called the government's account of prior meetings 'one-sided and inaccurate.'

Telegram founder Pavel Durov had publicly slammed the move. He called the ban a rash decision, arguing that India had punished 150 million ordinary users instead of the insiders responsible for the leak, and noted that the ban did not stop the leaks but merely pushed them onto other messaging apps like WhatsApp.

Digital rights group Internet Freedom Foundation (IFF) had also criticised the order, particularly the message-editing restriction. The IFF flagged that the message-editing direction cited no clear legal source of power, calling the move a band-aid solution and a disproportionate response to exam fraud.