We take responsibility; process to hold NEET-UG re-exam to begin in 7-10 days: NTA DG Abhishek Singh

Taking responsibility for the cancellation of the NEET UG 2026 over allegations of paper leak, the Director General of the National Testing Agency, Abhishek Singh, on Tuesday said the schedule for the re-examination would be announced within the “next seven to 10 days”.

The National Testing Agency (NTA) on Tuesday cancelled the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (Undergraduate), or NEET, held on May 3 for medical admissions amid allegations of paper leak, with the government asking the CBI to carry out a comprehensive inquiry into the “irregularities”.

“For the re-examination date, I will sit with my team and, in the next few days, announce the complete exam schedule and dates. Our effort will be to conduct the exam in the shortest possible time so that the academic calendar and admission schedule of medical colleges are not disrupted. The process will begin within the next seven to 10 days,” Singh said.

No additional fee will be charged from the candidates for the re-examination, and the fees paid earlier will be refunded, he said.

Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, meanwhile, refused to respond to questions from the media on the cancellation of NEET-UG 2026.

Calling the incident “distressing”, Singh said, “Paper leaks must end with immediate effect. It is unfortunate that we are at this stage. This is a matter of concern for the children of our country, for their parents, and for the entire ecosystem. I understand that more than two lakh people were involved in the examination process,” he said.

“This is distressing for everyone involved. We take responsibility for what has happened; it was wrong. We are cancelling it (NEET UG 2026) and preparing to conduct it again with the assurance that such incidents will not be repeated,” Singh added.

Some questions circulating in PDF format among students before the examination matched the actual question paper, prompting the agency to recommend cancellation of the medical entrance test, he said.

“The entire paper was not leaked. The CBI will probe the number of questions leaked. We will appeal to the agency to nab the culprits and take strong action (in the matter),” Singh said.

“The test conducted on May 3 had four code versions. None of the papers was found in the market, and no leak has been established. There were many questions in the PDF that circulated, and some of them looked similar to questions from the exam paper,” the NTA DG said.

“So, I would not say that the entire paper was leaked. But I will definitely say that even if a single question matches our question paper, our commitment to zero tolerance and zero error is violated, and our entire process is compromised. We will take responsibility for it and take action accordingly,” he added.

Singh also said that strict action would be taken against those attempting to mislead students or exploit the examination process.

“I want to assure all that we will take strict action against anyone attempting such mischief. Wherever we receive reports that someone is selling question papers or misleading students, we will act against them,” he said.

“There were many cases, even before the exam, where people were asking for OTPs in the name of providing papers and emptying bank accounts.

“We have taken action against all such people, and our policy is clear that we will not allow any irregularities in the examination process,” Singh stressed.

The NEET-UG 2026 was held on May 3 across 551 cities in India and 14 cities abroad.

The NTA organised the examination for nearly 23 lakh registered candidates at centres across the country.