From 540 to 167 in 2 Hours? NTA Dismisses NEET-UG Candidate's OMR Discrepancy Claims as 'Digitally Altered'
NTA rejected the allegations, saying the OMR sheet being circulated was a digitally altered image and that the candidate's declared score of 167 marks had been verified.
- Education News
- 3 min read
New Delhi: The National Testing Agency (NTA) has issued a clarification over claims made by NEET-UG 2026 candidate Arya Singh regarding alleged discrepancies in her OMR answer sheet and examination score.
They rejected the allegations, saying the OMR sheet being circulated was a digitally altered image and that the candidate's declared score of 167 marks had been verified.
This comes a day after Singh, a candidate from Kanpur, raised questions over the NEET-UG evaluation process and alleged that her score had changed multiple times following the declaration of results.
NTA Says Circulating OMR Sheet Was Digitally Altered
Responding to the controversy in a post on X, the NTA said it had verified the records related to Arya Singh, whose application number it identified as 260410434102.
"The genuine OMR of the candidate is with NTA. It was also emailed to her at the registered e-mail address during the OMR Response Key challenge window," the agency said.
According to the NTA, the image being circulated as Singh's OMR sheet was an altered version of the original document.
"The image being circulated is a digitally altered version of that same sheet. The recorded time of signature of one of the invigilators has been changed from 3:45 PM on the genuine sheet to 2:45 PM on the altered image. There are several other markings of digital alteration on the forged OMR sheet," the NTA stated.
Rejecting claims that Singh had scored significantly higher marks, the testing agency maintained that her official result had been verified.
"The score of 167 marks is verified and stands as declared," the NTA said.
The agency also warned against the creation and circulation of allegedly forged examination documents, stating that such actions could attract legal consequences.
"Creating or circulating a forged OMR answer sheet is an offence under the Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Act, 2024," the agency added.
What Did Arya Singh Claim?
The controversy began after Singh alleged discrepancies in the OMR sheet made available by the NTA. According to her account, she noticed apparent errors in the sequence of questions when scanned OMR sheets were made available on July 13.
"7-7 was twice... 85-85 was twice," she claimed while describing the alleged discrepancies.
Singh said that based on her calculations, she had scored 609 marks. She claimed that after she raised a complaint with the NTA, the sequence was corrected and she received an updated OMR sheet that also reflected a score of 609.
She further alleged that when the NEET-UG results were declared on July 16, her score initially appeared as 540 marks before allegedly changing to 167 a few hours later.
Singh subsequently approached the NTA and Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan seeking intervention.
"I only want justice," she said while protesting at Delhi's Jantar Mantar alongside her father.
The NEET-UG 2026 re-examination was conducted nationwide on June 21 after the previously scheduled examination was cancelled amid allegations of a paper leak.
Published By : Vanshika Punera
Published On: 20 July 2026 at 13:09 IST