Campus Times | Lucknow

The National Testing Agency (NTA) has rejected score discrepancy claims made by five candidates who appeared in the re conducted NEET-UG 2026 examination, stating that the OMR answer sheets submitted by them or circulated on their behalf had been digitally altered, AI generated, or manipulated.

In a statement issued on Monday, the NTA said verification of its official records found no errors in the declared results. It stressed that genuine examination documents contain security features such as barcodes, booklet and answer sheet numbers, and QR codes linked to its secure database, making fabricated images incapable of altering official records.

The agency confirmed the declared scores of all five candidates—Pratibha Trivedi (38), Abhay Yadav (164), Avaneesh Srivastava (337), Lakshya Singh (116), and Arya Singh (167)—after examining their original OMR sheets.

According to the NTA, the discrepancies included digitally shaded answer bubbles, altered identity details, AI or OCR-generated edits, and even changes to the invigilators signing time. In one case, the circulated OMR carried the identity of a person who does not exist in the NEET UG 2026 database.

The NTA warned that candidates submitting forged OMR sheets or fabricated scorecards could face cancellation of candidature, debarment from future examinations, and criminal action under the Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Act, the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, and the Information Technology Act.

The clarification comes a day after the agency advised NEET UG 2026 candidates and parents not to submit fake or AI-generated OMR sheets while raising score related grievances. The NEET UG 2026 results were declared on July 16, after the re examination was conducted on June 21 following the cancellation of the original May 3 test over alleged paper leak concerns.