Telegram CEO accuses Reliance of 'sabotaging access' for users outside India, says ‘this may be part of competitive war’

Telegram CEO Pavel Durov on Tuesday charged at Mukesh Ambani's Reliance after the Indian government imposed a temporary ban on the messaging app. He accused Reliance of sabotaging access to messaging platform for millions of users outside India through Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) hijacking method. This statement came after the National Testing Agency (NTA) issued an order to block Telegram until 22 June ahead of National Eligibility Entrance Test (Undergraduate) (NEET [UG]) scheduled for 21 June.

In a post on X, Pavel Durov wrote, “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.” Signaling to Meta's recent deal with Reliance on AI-enabled data centre, he pointed to shared interest of the two companies and called this move a part of competitive war.

Raising concerns over global Internet routing, he added, "This may be part of a competitive war, as Reliance is partially owned by Meta — the company behind WhatsApp. Network operators are advised to reject unauthorized BGP announcements from Reliance (AS18101) to prevent route hijacks and ensure stable Internet access for their users."

Suggesting an ulterior motive behind Telegram ban in India ahead of NEET UG exam, he added, “I wouldn’t be surprised if Reliance/WhatsApp were also behind the recent lobbying effort to ban Telegram in India.”

Notably, the NTA is conducting NEET retest after the national level screening test held on 3 May was cancelled over paper leak concerns. Pavel Durov protested against the recent ban on Telegram and alleged that this move of India’s IT ministry “punishes 150M+ ordinary Telegram users in India” instead of targeting the insiders who leaked the exam materials. According to him, this ban hasn't stopped anything and said that the leaks just moved to other apps.

NTA issues statement on Telegram ban

NTA issued a statement on 16 June, exposing a large-scale “Telegram-based fraud and misinformation targeting NEET (UG) 2026 candidates.” According to the press release, Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre took down substantial number of Telegram channels, groups and bots whose names and content openly advertised their fraudulent and misleading purpose.

Over the scam network operating on Telegram, NTA Director General Abhishek Singh in a video message said that the messaging app was running two scam rackets to target students. Suggesting access to the re-exam paper, some channels are demanding ₹14,000 to ₹25,000, even up to 10 lakh, the agency said as it dismissed such claims as untrue. Another scam relates to fake "proof" videos showing chats from before the exam. Criticising the app for its edit feature, NTA added, “Whoever runs a channel can edit any old message AND change what's inside it, while the date on the message stays the same. So a message edited on the 4th can be made to look exactly like it was sent on the 1st.”