Messaging app Telegram CEO Pavel Durov has alleged that Reliance Group, in which Meta has a partial stake through Jio, may have lobbied, along with its competitor WhatsApp, to impose a ban on Telegram in India.
"Indian telecom Reliance is sabotaging access to Telegram for millions of users outside India (including the UAE) via a rogue method called BGP hijacking. The sabotage seems intentional, as Reliance has ignored multiple reports. This may be part of a competitive war, as Reliance is partially owned by Meta, the company behind WhatsApp," Durov said in a post on X.
Meta holds a minority stake in the digital arm of Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) — Jio. However, subsea cables are operated by another group company, Reliance Communications (RCom), which is not part of RIL.
Durov further said that network operators should reject unauthorised BGP announcements from Reliance (AS18101) to prevent route hijacks and ensure stable internet access for users.
"Such abuse of global Internet routing is alarming. I wouldn't be surprised if Reliance/WhatsApp were also behind the recent lobbying effort to ban Telegram in India," he added.
The Indian government has ordered Google and Apple to delist Telegram from their app stores until June 22 to prevent paper leaks during the upcoming National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test Undergraduate (NEET-UG) 2026 re-examination on June 21.
The nationwide examination, conducted by the National Testing Agency (NTA), is held for admission to undergraduate medical institutes. The agency cancelled the previous exam held on May 3 amid allegations of a question paper leak.
In addition, a separate directive requires Telegram to disable its message-editing feature in India until June 30, addressing concerns that the feature has been used to fabricate after-the-event "paper leak" evidence in national examinations.
An industry source, who did not wish to be named, said Durov's own series of posts makes it clear that the company in question is Reliance Communications (RCom).
"The allegations he is making regarding Meta, however, relate to an entirely different company — Jio. These are separate entities. Meta is only a minority investor in Jio and has no role in its day-to-day operations or management. Conflating the two demonstrates either a lack of understanding of the sector or a deliberate attempt to spread misinformation," the source said.
Telegram suspension affects over 150 million users in India: Pavel Durov
Telegram founder and CEO Pavel Durov said the temporary suspension of the messaging platform in India ahead of the NEET-UG 2026 re-examination affected more than 150 million users.
In another post on X, Durov said India's IT Ministry banned Telegram for one week because some users shared leaked exam questions, impacting more than 150 million Telegram users in the country.
He further said Telegram had removed hundreds of channels in recent weeks that were allegedly sharing leaked examination materials and running related scams in India.
Durov added that the company is working to make the edited label on messages more prominent to help prevent backdating scams and manipulation of content timestamps.
His remarks came after the Indian government ordered a temporary suspension of Telegram services until June 22 as part of measures aimed at preventing malpractice during the NEET-UG 2026 re-examination scheduled for June 21.
The examination is being conducted again following allegations of question paper leaks during the original test held on May 3.
The restriction was imposed following recommendations from the NTA, which conducts NEET for admissions to undergraduate medical colleges across the country.
Alongside the temporary suspension, authorities have directed Telegram to disable its message-editing feature in India until June 30.
According to the NTA, investigators believe the feature was previously misused to create misleading evidence of question paper leaks by editing messages after examination papers had already been circulated.
Google and Apple have already removed Telegram from their app stores in compliance with the government's directive.
