Telegram resumes operations in India: App returns to Google Play Store

Following temporary restrictions imposed by the Indian government, the Telegram messenger has officially returned to the Google Play platform in the country. The app has been made available for download again after a several-day block. This decision was expected news for millions of users in India, one of the messenger's largest markets worldwide. This is reported by Ixbt.com news reports.

As a reminder, restrictions on the Telegram service were established starting June 16 of this year. This was caused by the leak of national eligibility test questions for admission to medical universities via the messenger. Following this conflict, exam results were canceled and retakes were scheduled. The government decided to suspend the service's operations to control the situation.

Reasons for the block and court decision

According to ixbt.com, on June 17, Telegram was removed from both the Google Play and App Store stores. Later, on June 19, the Delhi High Court found the government's actions to be legal. The court decision emphasized that there were sufficient grounds to temporarily block the messenger to ensure national security and transparency in the education system.

The blocking of the messenger triggered an unexpected technological trend in the country. It was reported that within 24 hours of the restrictions being imposed, VPN app downloads in India reached 919,000. This is the highest record recorded since the beginning of 2025, showing that users were unwilling to give up their communication tools.

Pavel Durov's reaction

Commenting on the situation, Telegram founder Pavel Durov stated that the block affected nearly 150 million users in India. According to him, such measures do not solve the problem of data leaks, as the distribution of materials simply moves to other platforms.

While Android users can now freely download the app, restoration work for the app in the App Store for iOS devices is still ongoing. Experts believe that Apple device owners will also have full access to the messenger within the coming hours.

This news is also significant for Uzbek users, as Telegram is the most popular communication tool in our country. Such global blocks once again bring the platform's security policy and its cooperation with states to the agenda.