BackgroundIn 2020 WHO declared the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak as a global pandemic. To flatten the curve of infection, a nationwide lockdown was declared by the Indian government. All the schools and colleges were shut for an indefinite period. Like all other streams, medical education also got severely hampered. Adapting themselves to the changing environment, teachers started using different teachinglearning methods and media to get across to the students. The objective of the research was to study the perception of medical students towards online teaching during the COVID pandemic. MethodsA descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted by the distribution of a pre-validated online questionnaire to medical students of West Bengal. From the collected data relevant statistical averages and census domains were calculated. The Chi-Square test was done and assessed with a p≤0.05 significance level. ResultsA significant increase was noted in the time spent by students on various online teaching activities (p<0.05). Video tutorials, e.g., YouTube was ranked as the most effective mode (17.2%), followed by live tutorials via Microsoft Teams, etc. (8.9%). A significant number (30.2%) of students strongly favoured online teaching over face-to-face teaching. Major challenges of online learning cited by students were internet connectivity issues (79.8%) followed by family distraction (37.9 %) and inconvenient timing of the classes (20.1 %). ConclusionOur study highlighted the benefits, disadvantages and barriers for online learning in the perspective of undergraduate medical education in India. Even though online mode of teaching was found to be beneficial in the context of COVID 19 pandemic, it cannot be used as an absolute substitution for face to face teaching in the given context.