NTA defends answer key challenge fee, says successful objections benefit all candidates

The National Testing Agency (NTA) has defended the fee charged for challenging provisional answer keys, saying the mechanism is intended to ensure fairness across examinations and not to generate revenue from candidates.

The clarification came amid concerns that the answer key challenge process is too expensive for students. Candidates appearing for examinations such as JEE Main, NEET and UGC-NET can use the online system to flag answers they believe are incorrect in a provisional key.

In a post on X on Thursday night, the NTA said an accepted challenge benefits every candidate who appeared for the examination, irrespective of how many students raised the objection.

If subject experts find that a challenge is valid, the answer key is revised and the corrected response is applied to the results of all candidates, the agency explained.

The NTA said the Rs 200 fee charged per question is intended to prevent frivolous objections. The amount is refunded to the candidate if the challenge is upheld.

The agency added that a single valid objection could correct an error affecting lakhs of candidates, while the student who raised it would receive a refund.

The clarification comes at a time when the NTA has faced heightened scrutiny over the conduct of major entrance and eligibility examinations, including controversies surrounding NEET-UG and errors reported in UGC-NET examinations.

With PTI inputs