Following the cancellation of the NEET UG 2026 over allegations of paper leak, National Testing Agency's Director General, Abhishek Singh, informed that the schedule for the re-examination would be announced within the next seven to 10 days.
The National Testing Agency had conducted the NEET UG exam on May 3 for nearly 23 lakh registered candidates at centres across 551 cities in India and 14 cities abroad.
Amid allegations of paper leak, the government has asked the CBI to carry out a comprehensive inquiry into the "irregularities".
"For the re-examination date, I will sit with my team and, in the next few days, announce the complete exam schedule and dates. Our effort will be to conduct the exam in the shortest possible time so that the academic calendar and admission schedule of medical colleges are not disrupted," Singh said.
"No additional fee will be charged from the candidates for the re-examination, and the fees paid earlier will be refunded", he said.
Calling the incident 'distressing', Singh said, "Paper leaks must end with immediate effect. Unfortunately, we are at this stage. This is a matter of concern for the children of our country, for their parents, and for the entire ecosystem. I understand that more than two lakh people were involved in the examination process," he said.
"This is distressing for everyone involved. We take responsibility for what has happened; it was wrong. We are cancelling it (NEET UG 2026) and preparing to conduct it again with the assurance that such incidents will not be repeated," Singh added.
"Some questions circulating in PDF format among students before the examination matched the actual question paper, prompting the agency to recommend cancellation of the medical entrance test," he said.
"The entire paper was not leaked. The CBI will probe the number of questions leaked. We will appeal to the agency to nab the culprits and take strong action (in the matter)," Singh said.
"The test conducted on May 3 had four code versions. None of the papers was found in the market, and no leak has been established. There were many questions in the PDF that circulated, and some of them looked similar to questions from the exam paper," the NTA DG said.
"So, I would not say that the entire paper was leaked. But I will definitely say that even if a single question matches our question paper, our commitment to zero tolerance and zero error is violated, and our entire process is compromised. We will take responsibility for it and take action accordingly," he added.
Singh also said that strict action would be taken against those attempting to mislead students or exploit the examination process.
"I want to assure all that we will take strict action against anyone attempting such mischief. Wherever we receive reports that someone is selling question papers or misleading students, we will act against them," he said.
"There were many cases, even before the exam, where people were asking for OTPs in the name of providing papers and emptying bank accounts. We have taken action against all such people, and our policy is clear that we will not allow any irregularities in the examination process," Singh stressed.
Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, meanwhile, refused to respond to questions from the media on the cancellation of NEET-UG 2026.
With inputs from PTI
