Computer-based test (CBT) was meant to close India’s accountability gap. Instead, it moved the gap from paper to server and from press to vendor. The question isn’t whether the technology works elsewhere, but whether India built the version meant to work here, or just digitised the custody-chain failure behind over 90 paper leaks in two decades.
On August 30, 2026, NEET-PG candidates nationwide hit computer crashes, biometric failures, and forced reboots. In Jaipur, the iON Digital Zone failed so badly that authorities re-tested 2,445 students – the same centre disrupted an AIIMS exam the next day[1]. That’s what happens when a high-stakes exam moves to a private server: the failure doesn’t disappear; it changes address. Computer-based test (CBT) was meant to close India’s accountability gap. Instead, it moved the gap from paper to server and from press to vendor.
The question isn’t whether the technology works elsewhere, but whether India built the version meant to work here, or just digitised the custody-chain failure behind over 90 paper leaks in two decades.[²]
SSC CGL 2025 makes the pattern clearer. The exam collapsed nationally on server freezes, network timeouts, and biometric mismatches.[3] Behind it sat a vendor switch – TCS to Eduquity – already under Supreme Court scrutiny for separate disruptions,[4] a firm independent reporting had flagged before its first NTA contract in 2022. This is Perrow’s Normal Accident Theory in practice – paper leaks stayed local; CBT networks are tightly coupled, so one node’s failure takes down the whole system.[5]
CGL’s problems don’t stop at the server. CBT has also created new ways to cheat. SSC has flagged the risks of remote control of exam computers and biometric impersonation.[6] In 2022, Delhi Police also uncovered a network that used hackers to remotely control exam computers without being detected by the examination centre.[7]
The problem becomes even more complicated when the technology moves from the examination hall to evaluation. In CBSE’s On-Screen Marking (OSM) evaluation system faced cybersecurity concerns several times. An ethical hacker had reported critical vulnerabilities in the OSM portal to CERT-In in February 2026. Months later, the system faced a cyberattack that generated 1.5 million hits in two minutes.[8]
These failures point to a larger problem: how India procures examination infrastructure. NTA’s 2025 tender required providers to have experience across more than 50 cities and 10 states, with the capacity to conduct an examination for at least 10,000 candidates in a single sitting.[9] Such requirements can significantly narrow the pool of eligible providers. Once bidders meet the prescribed technical requirements, Rule 153 of the General Financial Rules makes price an important consideration in the selection process.[10] The question, therefore, is not simply whether a company can conduct a CBT exam, but whether the procurement process gives enough weight to security, resilience and continuity, and not just cost.
But this does not mean that paper exams were safe either. Since 2019, 65 major exams across 19 states have leaked, 27 cancelled or postponed outright.[11] The problem, therefore, is not simply that one system is safe and the other is not. While the pen-paper exam created one set of vulnerabilities; CBT exam created another.
Fixing this needs more than another amendment. The law needs vendor liability separated from individual cheating, enforceable security standards, a fixed re-exam timeline, and an independent ombudsman with real teeth. The technology needs mandatory stress-testing before launch, normalisation formulas open to audit, more vendors instead of one firm running evaluation and biometric verification, plus an offline backup so no exam is hostage to one server.
Every incident here has a name attached – a student who paid for a failure they never caused. CBT was sold as the fix. It wasn’t. It’s the same unaccountable chain of custody, running on better hardware. Until procurement rewards resilience over the lowest bid, digitisation will keep doing what it’s done so far: rebrand the failure and hand the bill to the next aspirant.
(Manasi Srivastava is a TRIP Intern)
References
- NEET-PG candidates flag malfunctioning computers, biometric failures at exam centres. The Hindu BusinessLine. 2026 Sep 1. https://www.thehindubusinessline.com/news/neet-pg-candidates-flag-malfunctioning-computers-biometric-failures-at-exam-centres/article71415678.ece
- Not just 2026 NEET, over 90 exam leaks, irregularities reported in two decades. The Tribune. 2026 Jul. https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/india/not-just-2026-neet-over-90-exam-leaks-irregularities-reported-in-two-decades/
- SSC CGL 2025 day 1-2 exams cancelled in multiple centres; protests erupt as ‘glitch-free’ promise collapses. Careers360. 2025 Sep 13. https://news.careers360.com/ssc-cgl-2025-exams-cancelled-multiple-centres-protests-glitch-free-promise-failed-delhi-gurugram-jammu-jharkhand-west-bengal
- Supreme Court issues notice over alleged irregularities and lapses in the conduct of SSC Exams. SCC Online. 2025 Sep 5. https://www.scconline.com/blog/post/2025/09/05/irregularity-in-ssc-exams-supreme-court-issues-notice/
- The QHSE Standard. Normal Accident Theory: Why Your “Perfect” System is Mathematically Guaranteed to Explode. Medium. 2026 Mar 6. https://medium.com/@qhsestandard/normal-accident-theory-why-your-perfect-system-is-mathematically-guaranteed-to-explode-31620ae599a2
- SSC CGL 2025: Dhanbad server manager arrested in cheating case, candidates told to move mouse for answers. Careers360. 2025 Sep 30. https://news.careers360.com/ssc-cgl-2025-dhanbad-server-manager-arrested-cheating-case-scam-gang-candidates-mouse-answers-vendor-chairman-supreme-court
- https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/delhi/russian-hackers-jee-gmat-exams-arrested-7708815/
- CBSE-Coempt row explained: 7 things to know about the firm at the centre of the controversy. The Statesman. 2026 Jun 3. https://www.thestatesman.com/india/cbse-coempt-row-explained-7-things-to-know-about-the-firm-at-the-centre-of-the-controversy-1503601270.html
- https://www.nta.ac.in/Download/Tender/Tender_20250222122835.pdf]
- L1 L2 L3 Government Tenders India 2026 Explained. TenderDekho. 2026 Jun 10. https://tenderdekho.com/blog/l1-l2-l3-government-tenders-india-explained-2026
- India Experienced 65 Exam Paper Leaks Since 2019: Report. HW News English. 2024 Jun 26. https://hwnews.in/national/india-experienced-65-exam-paper-leaks-since-2019-report/