New Delhi: Google Playstore has restored Telegram messaging application on Tuesday morning as the temporary ban imposed by the Union government on the same expired midnight of June 22.
The platform was accessible to some existing users before Google restored it. However, the application continued to remain delisted on Apple's Appstore till around 10 a.m.
The Union government had imposed a time-bound ban on the application, taking into consideration the NEET-UG re-examination that was held on June 21. The move was aimed to prevent exam fraud, in light of the widespread paper leak that led to the cancellation of the original exam held on May 3.
Before imposing the ban, government officials met Telegram representatives on June 3, during which these concerns were flagged. Thereafter, the Union government decided to block the app and its associated web links till June 22. The application had also been directed to disable message-editing feature on already posted messages till June 30.
The governmental move blocking the application drew sharp criticism from Pavel Durov, Telegram founder and Chief executive Officer (CEO). Durov further alleged that that Reliance, in which Meta has a partial stake, may have lobbied, along with its competitor WhatsApp, to impose the ban.
(With inputs from PTI)