Centre directs Telegram to curb piracy, seeks compliance report within 15 days

New Delhi-The Centre has issued a notice to Telegram, directing the messaging platform to take immediate action against the circulation of pirated films and OTT content and submit a compliance report within 15 days, according to sources.

The move is aimed at safeguarding India's creator economy and protecting the interests of the film industry, broadcasters, OTT platforms, producers and distributors from the growing threat of digital piracy.

The latest directive follows the Centre's earlier action through the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, which had temporarily blocked Telegram in India until June 22 as a precautionary measure ahead of the NEET (UG) 2026 re-examination.

According to the National Testing Agency (NTA), the decision was taken in the interest of public order after authorities found that organised cheating networks were allegedly using the platform to defraud candidates appearing for the nationwide medical entrance examination held on June 21.

The temporary suspension was later upheld by the Delhi High Court, which ruled that the Centre had followed the legal procedure while exercising its emergency blocking powers and that the restrictions were proportionate to the circumstances.

Rejecting a petition filed by Telegram FZ LLC, Justice Tejas Karia held that suspending Telegram's services until June 22 and disabling its message-editing feature until June 30 were justified in view of the concerns surrounding the examination.

Following the expiry of the temporary restrictions, Google restored the Telegram app on its Play Store in India.

The fresh notice from the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting comes shortly after the Centre also issued a notice to Meta over the proposed rollout of WhatsApp's username feature.

The government has asked Meta to defer the launch of the feature in India until consultations with the authorities are completed.

Responding to the notice, WhatsApp said the username feature will be optional and will include multiple safeguards designed to reduce impersonation, scams and unwanted contact before its broader rollout later this year.

With inputs from IANS