The National Testing Agency (NTA) has cancelled the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test ( NEET) UG 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 allegation of paper leak.
The NEET-UG 2026 was conducted in 551 Indian cities and at 14 overseas centers on May 3 and over 20 lakh candidates had appeared for the test.
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 decision was taken after widespread reports of “alleged paper leak from Kochi in Kerala to Sikkar in Rajasthan where test paper containing 150 questions out of total 180 questions from the NEET test -2026 was circulated through social media and at some places it was sold for Rs 30000 and circulated 15 days in advance.”
NEET authorities had confessed, “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”, Singh stated.
He said, “The next date of the NEET test would be announced within ten days and no additional fee will be charged for re-examination.”
The issue of NEET paper leak was raised by the Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi who had termed the “NEET exams as auction of papers for money and demanded scrapping of NTA and the NEET test.”
Meanwhile the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) lodged an FIR on Tuesday in connection with the alleged leak of the NEET (UG) 2026 paper, CBI said.
