New Delhi: The NTA Monday rejected claims of five re-NEET candidates alleging discrepancies in their OMR answer sheets, saying the images circulated by them or on their behalf had been digitally altered, regenerated using AI or manipulated by adding responses that were not present on the original sheets.
The National Testing Agency (NTA), which conducts the exams, said no error in the declared results had been established so far and warned that candidates using fabricated records could face cancellation of candidature, debarment and criminal proceedings.
“Genuine examination documents carry barcodes, booklet and answer-sheet numbers and, in scorecards, QR codes linked to authoritative server records. A fabricated image may deceive the eye, but it does not, and cannot, alter the record on those servers.
“Forged OMRs or scorecards could attract action under the Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Act, the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and the Information Technology Act,” the NTA said.
The results for the medical entrance were announced July 16, with 11.21 lakh candidates qualifying the exam.
The NTA cancelled the May 3 exam May 12 amid allegations of a paper leak; the CBI is investigating the matter, and the exam was re-conducted June 21.
NTA rejected Pratibha Trivedi’s claim, saying the circulated image was a significantly altered version of her genuine OMR and her score of 38 stood.
In Abhay Yadav’s case, the agency said his public claim that he had left only five questions unanswered was contradicted by the official OMR, which showed 44 unattempted questions. His score of 164 was verified.
Similarly, in the case of Avaneesh Srivastava, the NTA said the genuine OMR bearing his name, parents’ names, signature, thumb impression and the invigilators’ signatures was on record and had also been emailed to him during the response-key challenge window.
It said the circulated image carried the identity of “Ajeet Singh”, a person with the stated parentage who did not exist in the NEET-UG 2026 database.
According to the agency, the printed portion had been regenerated through AI- or OCR-based tools and the identity fields overwritten. Srivastava’s score of 337 was verified, it said.
The NTA Sunday issued an advisory to NEET-UG 2026 candidates and their parents, warning them not to submit fake or AI-generated OMR sheets when raising complaints about score discrepancies.
The warning comes after the NTA reviewed several complaints regarding differences between candidates’ expected and declared NEET 2026 scores.
During the verification process, the agency found that many of the OMR sheets submitted with complaints appeared to be fake or created using artificial intelligence (AI).
For Lakshya Singh, NTA said additional answer bubbles had been digitally shaded on the circulated image. The genuine sheet showed 54 attempts – 34 correct and 20 incorrect – with 126 questions unattempted, resulting in 116 marks.
In Arya Singh’s case, it said the invigilator’s signing time had been altered from 3.45 pm to 2.45 pm, along with other digital changes. Her score of 167 stood.
Following the controversy over the paper leak and alleged irregularities in the exam process, the Centre announced that the exam will now be conducted as a computer-based test (CBT) instead of pen-and-paper mode.
Detailed deliberations have been ongoing for several years between the education and health ministries on whether to conduct NEET-UG in pen-and-paper or online mode.
The National Eligibility cum Entrance Test-Undergraduate (NEET-UG) is the country’s largest undergraduate entrance exam, with nearly 25 lakh candidates registering annually.
The NTA conducts the test every year for admission into medical colleges, where 1.08 lakh seats are available for the MBBS course. Of these, approximately 56,000 are in government hospitals and about 52,000 are in private colleges. Undergraduate courses in dentistry, Ayurveda, Unani and Siddha also utilise NEET results for admissions.
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