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NTA rejects OMR mismatch claims in NEET-UG 2026 results
The agency stated that the images circulated on social media were “fabricated, digitally altered or AI-generated” and did not match its official records.
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The National Testing Agency (NTA) on Monday rejected allegations of several NEET-UG 2026 candidates that their results did not match their OMR answer sheets, stating that the images circulated on social media were “fabricated, digitally altered or AI-generated” and did not match its official records.
In a public notice issued on July 20, the agency said it had examined every representation “on merits” and found that the original OMR sheet in its possession matched the declared score in every case reviewed. However, it did not disclose how many complaints it had received or how many were found to be fake.
The clarification comes days after candidates who appeared for the June 21 NEET-UG re-examination alleged on social media that their official scores were significantly lower than the marks they had calculated using their OMR sheets and the provisional answer key. NTA had announced the re-examination results on July 16, which followed a tumultuous examination season marked by the NTA cancelling the original May 3 exam on May 12 and announcing the re-test after receiving an email alleging a leak and noting overlaps between a circulated guess paper and the question paper. The Central Bureau of Investigation, probing the alleged leak, has arrested 13 people and will file a charge sheet this month.
NTA said genuine examination documents carry unique barcodes, booklet and answer-sheet numbers, and QR codes linked to its secure records. It added that the declared scores matched the “official answer key and the calculation sheet”. The OMR sheets submitted by complainants, it said, were “not the OMR answer sheet issued by the Agency” but “a fabricated document”, a conclusion reached after a “forensic and record-based examination”. “A fabricated image may deceive the eye, but it does not, and cannot, alter the record on those servers,” the agency said.
In a series of five posts on X, NTA responded to individual viral cases. It stated that Avaneesh Srivastava’s circulated OMR had been digitally regenerated using “AI or OCR-based tools” and maintained that his score of 337 stood. It similarly rejected Pratibha Trivedi’s claim, calling the circulated image a “significantly altered” version of her genuine OMR and reiterating her score of 38.
In Abhay Yadav’s case, it said the official OMR showed 44 unanswered questions, contrary to his public claim of leaving only five, and verified his score of 164. It alleged that Lakshya Singh’s viral OMR contained digitally added response bubbles and maintained his score of 116, while Arya Singh’s circulated OMR was described as “a digitally altered version” of the original, with her score of 167 also standing.
The agency warned that creating or circulating forged OMR sheets or scorecards is a cognisable offence under the Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Act, 2024, but said candidates with genuine grievances could continue to approach it through the prescribed mechanism.
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