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What is the story about?
Reliance Jio Infocomm on Wednesday (June 17) has denied allegations made by Telegram founder Pavel Durov regarding a purported BGP route misconfiguration and disruption of access to Telegram users outside India.
In a statement, Reliance Jio said recent posts on X had led to speculation regarding Reliance Jio Infocomm Limited (AS55836) and a BGP route misconfiguration. "We categorically clarify that Jio has not been involved in any such incident," the company said.
Jio added that it "continues to operate its network in accordance with global Internet routing best practices and the highest standards of reliability, security, and transparency."
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The statement came after Durov alleged that Reliance may have been involved in efforts to ban the messaging platform in India and accused an affiliate of disrupting Telegram’s internet access outside the country – a claim which Reliance Jio denied of having any involvement.
In a post on social media platform X, Durov alleged that Indian telecom operator Reliance was “sabotaging access” to Telegram for millions of users outside India, including in the United Arab Emirates, through a technique known as Border Gateway Protocol (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 wrote. He further said he would not be surprised if “Reliance/WhatsApp” were behind lobbying efforts to ban Telegram in India.
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The allegations come amid heightened scrutiny of Telegram in India. The government has directed Apple and Google to delist the Telegram application from their app stores until June 22, according to people familiar with the matter, as authorities seek to prevent the circulation of examination material linked to the re-test of the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET-UG).
The fresh examination is scheduled for June 21 after the National Testing Agency cancelled an earlier test held on May 3 following allegations of a paper leak.
Separately, Telegram has been directed to disable its message-editing feature for previously posted messages in India until June 30, a measure aimed at preventing the creation of retrospective content that could be used to fabricate evidence of question-paper leaks.
In a separate post, Durov criticised India’s IT ministry’s ban on Telegram for one week “because some users shared leaked exam questions.” “This punishes 150M+ ordinary Telegram users in India – not the insiders who leaked the exam materials,” he said.
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"And the ban hasn’t stopped anything. The leaks just moved to other apps.” He went on to state that over the past few weeks, Telegram has removed hundreds of channels sharing leaked exam materials and related scams in India.
"We're also making the ‘edited’ label more visible to prevent backdating scams,” he said. “Telegram is a force for good. Banning it – even temporarily – is a mistake."
Disclaimer: Network18, the parent company of CNBCTV18.com, is controlled by Independent Media Trust, of which Reliance Industries is the sole beneficiary.
In a statement, Reliance Jio said recent posts on X had led to speculation regarding Reliance Jio Infocomm Limited (AS55836) and a BGP route misconfiguration. "We categorically clarify that Jio has not been involved in any such incident," the company said.
Recent
posts on X have led to speculation regarding Reliance Jio Infocomm Limited (AS55836) and a BGP route misconfiguration. We categorically clarify that Jio has not been involved in any such incident. Jio continues to operate its network in accordance with global Internet…
— Reliance Jio (@reliancejio) June 17, 2026
Jio added that it "continues to operate its network in accordance with global Internet routing best practices and the highest standards of reliability, security, and transparency."
ALSO READ | Jio Platforms appoints Dan Bailey as President to lead international business
The statement came after Durov alleged that Reliance may have been involved in efforts to ban the messaging platform in India and accused an affiliate of disrupting Telegram’s internet access outside the country – a claim which Reliance Jio denied of having any involvement.
In a post on social media platform X, Durov alleged that Indian telecom operator Reliance was “sabotaging access” to Telegram for millions of users outside India, including in the United Arab Emirates, through a technique known as Border Gateway Protocol (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 wrote. He further said he would not be surprised if “Reliance/WhatsApp” were behind lobbying efforts to ban Telegram in India.
ALSO READ | Reliance Jio Q2 Results: ARPU rises to ₹211.40, subscriber base tops 500 million
The allegations come amid heightened scrutiny of Telegram in India. The government has directed Apple and Google to delist the Telegram application from their app stores until June 22, according to people familiar with the matter, as authorities seek to prevent the circulation of examination material linked to the re-test of the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET-UG).
The fresh examination is scheduled for June 21 after the National Testing Agency cancelled an earlier test held on May 3 following allegations of a paper leak.
Separately, Telegram has been directed to disable its message-editing feature for previously posted messages in India until June 30, a measure aimed at preventing the creation of retrospective content that could be used to fabricate evidence of question-paper leaks.
In a separate post, Durov criticised India’s IT ministry’s ban on Telegram for one week “because some users shared leaked exam questions.” “This punishes 150M+ ordinary Telegram users in India – not the insiders who leaked the exam materials,” he said.
ALSO READ | Reliance Industries shares can rise 23%, Jefferies says with two key triggers
"And the ban hasn’t stopped anything. The leaks just moved to other apps.” He went on to state that over the past few weeks, Telegram has removed hundreds of channels sharing leaked exam materials and related scams in India.
"We're also making the ‘edited’ label more visible to prevent backdating scams,” he said. “Telegram is a force for good. Banning it – even temporarily – is a mistake."
Disclaimer: Network18, the parent company of CNBCTV18.com, is controlled by Independent Media Trust, of which Reliance Industries is the sole beneficiary.
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