New Delhi: Telegram founder Pavel Durov has expressed displeasure over the one-week temporary ban on the messaging app in India. He says that this step caused loss to more than 15 crore common users, while the problem due to which the ban was imposed was not solved.

Durov posted on  

In a statement released on X, Durov said that the ban imposed by the IT Ministry had failed in its purpose. This only affected the conversations of millions of law abiding users.

Durov wrote, "India’s IT Ministry banned the entire Telegram for a week after some users shared leaked exam questions. Due to this, more than 15 crore common users were punished, not those who leaked the paper."  

This ban was imposed just before the re-examination of NEET UG 2026. Officials said that Telegram was being used to cheat candidates and sell leaked papers. NEET was already mired in paper leak controversies, due to which lakhs of results had to be cancelled.

Ban did not stop leaks, only platform changed   

Durov argues that the ban did not stop the incidents of leaks, rather they shifted to other apps. According to him, blocking access to big platforms does not eliminate the real reason for cheating in exams.

He said, "The ban didn’t stop anything. The leaked work simply moved to other apps. There was no impact on the people responsible, but common users had to face problems."  

India is one of Telegram’s biggest markets. Here people use this app for personal chat, business, studies and community groups.

NTA had accused Telegram channels   

The Indian government on Tuesday imposed a temporary ban on Telegram ahead of the NEET UG 2026 re-exam. National Testing Agency said that "PAPER LEAKED NEET", "Re-NEET 2026", "Private Mafia" And "REE NEET MAFIAA" Like the channels were openly claiming to sell paper.

NTA took this action after several months of monitoring. According to the agency, these channels were demanding thousands to lakhs of rupees from the candidates and their families. NTA clarified that no genuine paper exists outside the examination process and such claims are completely fraudulent.

Privacy features are creating a challenge  

Telegram is famous for its privacy, large channels, anonymous username and large file sharing. These features have attracted teachers and businesses, but have also benefited fraudsters.

In the last few years, many cases of paper leaks and examination scams have come to light through Telegram. For this reason, the government keeps a special eye on this platform during important examinations like NEET.