NEET 2026 Abu Dhabi Centre Row: NTA Clears Air, Says Nagpur Aspirant Himself Chose Overseas Exam City Using Own Login

A NEET re-examination aspirant from Nagpur faced an unexpected hurdle when he was allocated an exam centre in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, just days before the scheduled test on Sunday, June 21.

While the student had originally selected Nagpur as his preferred city for the upcoming examination, his admit card displayed an overseas location. The National Testing Agency (NTA) later addressed the situation, as reported by the ANI news agency.

NTA Clarifies the City Allocation Issue

Following the development, the NTA released an official statement to clarify how the candidate from Nagpur was assigned a test centre in Abu Dhabi. According to the agency, after rescheduling the NEET (UG) 2026 exam to June 21, the NTA reopened its examination-city correction window to help students adjust their preferences.

Key Highlights from the NTA Statement:

High Success Rate: Roughly 3.2 lakh candidates utilized this correction window. The NTA successfully allocated the preferred examination city to more than 99.5% of those applicants. The Abu Dhabi Log Details: Addressing the specific query, the NTA stated that its web-activity logs show the city change was performed directly through the candidate's own registered login credentials while the correction window was active. The system recorded a consistent, single-user access pattern during this session.

Swift Action and a "Student-First" Resolution

Despite the records indicating that the Abu Dhabi centre was selected through the candidate's login, the NTA received an informal request on the evening of June 19, a mere 48 hours before the exam, to switch the venue back to Nagpur. "NTA personnel immediately initiated the change and contacted the candidate's father on 19th evening itself to help them complete the formal process," the agency stated.

The testing agency further noted that the candidate's credentials were used to change the location to Abu Dhabi once, and the selection was previewed twice. "NTA has observed that on 3 occasions, one - the centre was changed to Abu Dhabi using candidate’s credentials and twice it was previewed that the centre is Abu Dhabi. Despite that NTA has accorded to the aspirant's request and the change of centre was actioned."

Emphasizing its "Student-First" philosophy, the NTA reiterated that its primary objective is to ensure no candidate misses the examination due to administrative or procedural doubts.

Digital Footprints vs Family Claims

A senior NTA official said that the candidate had himself changed the examination city preferences through the portal, selecting Abu Dhabi as the first choice and Dubai as the second option. The father of the student, Abdulla Talib, said his son had given preference to Nagpur, Wardha, and Bhandara centres for the NEET UG examination.

However, the NTA official said that the modification on the NTA portal was done using the same IP address which was used to download the admit card for the May 3 examination. He further said that the bank details for a refund were updated using the same IP on May 24. "He (candidate) also updated his bank details for a refund on May 24, accessed the city intimation slip on June 10 and downloaded his admit card on June 16 using the same IP address,” the official said.

In a post on X, NTA further said that on 3 occasions, the centre was changed to Abu Dhabi using candidate’s credentials and twice it was previewed that the centre is Abu Dhabi.

What the NEET Aspirant Claimed

The NEET aspirant claimed that he had opted for Nagpur as his preferred city for the examination, to be held on Sunday. However, the father said he was allotted an overseas centre. The family said that the candidate did not have a passport, nor did they have enough time to obtain one.

"We are completely unable to send our child abroad for the exam. He does not even have a passport, and there is no time left to make travel arrangements," the student's father, Mohammad Talib, told ANI. The incident drew outrage, with Congress leader Rahul Gandhi launching criticism against the NTA, saying the agency was “testing the patience of the country.”

The mix-up came to light on Saturday, a day when a nationwide mock drill was underway across the country ahead of the NEET-UG 2026 re-examination on Sunday. The re-examination will be conducted on June 21 from 2 pm to 5.15 pm in the pen-and-paper mode across 551 cities in India and 14 cities abroad for over 22.79 lakh candidates.