The National Testing Agency (NTA) Monday said that several allegations of discrepancies in NEET-UG 2026 results were based on “fabricated, digitally altered or otherwise forged” OMR answer sheets, some allegedly created using artificial intelligence, as it sought to counter allegations on social media questioning the integrity of the examination.
“It has come to the notice of the National Testing Agency that images of OMR answer sheets, said to be the ‘correct’ record of certain candidates who appeared in NEET (UG) 2026, are being circulated on social media in support of claims that the results declared against those candidates are wrong,” the statement said.
Rejecting those claims, the NTA said, “The score declared against every such candidate is fully consistent with that OMR answer sheet, the official answer key notified for NEET (UG) 2026, and the calculation sheet on file. There is no evaluation error.”
It further said the images circulating online “are not documents issued by NTA” but “digitally manipulated versions of the candidates’ own genuine OMR answer sheets.” According to the agency, the alterations ranged “from the introduction of additional response markings to the alteration of names and of the authenticated signature time of an invigilator, amongst others.”
Allegations by candidates
The statement follows days of allegations by candidates who claimed that the OMR sheets uploaded against their roll numbers either did not belong to them, reflected far fewer attempted questions than they had marked, or had been interchanged. Several candidates sought re-evaluation based on images they described as their “correct” OMR sheets.
The controversy concerns the June 21 NEET-UG retest, conducted after the May examination was cancelled due to the paper leak. Since the results were declared, candidates and parents have shared screenshots and alleged discrepancies across social media, with opposition leaders also questioning the conduct of the examination.
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On Sunday, the NTA warned that candidates submitting digitally altered OMR sheets or scorecards could face cancellation of their results, debarment from future NTA examinations and criminal proceedings.
The warning comes as the Medical Counselling Committee under the Directorate General of Health Services and state counselling authorities prepare to begin admissions based on the NTA merit list.
“The creation, submission or circulation of a fabricated, digitally altered or otherwise forged OMR answer sheet is a cognisable offence under the Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Act, 2024, and separately attracts liability under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, and the Information Technology Act, 2000,” Monday’s statement said.
Five cases cited by NTA
In an accompanying clarification, the NTA responded individually to five candidates whose allegations had gained traction on social media: Avaneesh Srivastava, Pratibha Trivedi, Abhay Yadav, Lakshya Singh and Arya Singh. In each case, the agency maintained that the OMR sheet had been correctly evaluated and that the declared score was accurate.
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Avaneesh alleged that the OMR sheet uploaded against his roll number did not belong to him. The NTA said his representation was examined on its merits and that a written response, enclosing a copy of his genuine OMR sheet, had been sent to him. It maintained that his declared result was based on his authentic OMR sheet and therefore required no correction.
Pratibha claimed that the OMR sheet available on the portal did not reflect the responses she had marked during the examination. The agency said its records, including the roll number, booklet details, barcode, signatures and thumb impression, matched the official OMR sheet and that no discrepancy was found in the evaluation.
Abhay alleged that his score did not correspond with the number of questions he had attempted. The NTA said the OMR sheet on record had been correctly evaluated a gainst the official answer key and calculation sheet, and that there was “no evaluation error”.
The NTA said Lakshya’s case illustrated one of the clearest examples of digital manipulation. “The image being circulated shows response markings that are not present on the genuine sheet. Additional bubbles have been shaded in by digital means to create a forged OMR sheet,” the agency said.
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Kanpur’s Arya Singh has emerged as the most prominent candidate publicly challenging the NEET-UG 2026 result. Arya has alleged that the OMR sheet initially uploaded by the NTA on July 13 contained an incorrect question sequence. After matching her responses, she calculated that she should have scored 609 marks and submitted an objection through the official portal.
According to Arya, although the NTA later uploaded a revised OMR sheet with the corrected question order, the marks remained incorrect. She has further claimed that when the re-NEET results were declared on the night of July 16, the portal initially displayed 540 marks, but after repeated refreshes, the score changed to 167 marks, which remains her official result. She has described the issue as either a technical glitch or an evaluation error and said she has submitted complaints to both the NTA and the Ministry of Education.
Responding to her allegations, the NTA said the image circulating online was itself digitally altered. “The recorded time of signature of one of the invigilators has been changed from 3.45 PM on the genuine sheet to 2.45 PM on the altered image. There are several other markings of digital alteration on the forged OMR sheet,” it said.
The agency on Monday said every genuine OMR sheet and scorecard contains unique identifiers, including the roll number, booklet number, barcode, serial number, QR code, candidate details, signatures and thumb impressions, which are verified against secure records maintained by the NTA and the National Informatics Centre (NIC). While fabricated images may appear convincing, they cannot alter the official records stored on the agency’s servers, it said.
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The controversy has also taken a political turn. Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convener and former Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal questioned the Union government over the conduct of the NEET re-examination, alleging that several students had reported discrepancies in uploaded OMR sheets and mismatches between their responses and declared scores.
He said dismissing such complaints without satisfactory redress only adds to the stress of candidates who had already been required to take a second examination.