NTA defends Rs 200 fee for challenging answer key

Says meant to deter frivolous objections | Why should we pay for the NTA’s mistakes: Aspirant

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, Updated At : 01:28 AM Aug 22, 2026 IST

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The National Testing Agency (NTA) has defended its system for challenging answer key, saying the system was designed to be fair to every student, not just the one who challenges.The statement came after concerns were raised over the fee charged to candidates for raising objections against provisional answer keys.

The NTA asserted that the fee exists to discourage frivolous challenges, not to profit from genuine ones. “The Rs 200 fee is refunded to the candidate whose challenge is upheld,” it said.

Stressing that all candidates benefit with one challenge, the agency said: “If even a single candidate challenges a question, and the subject experts accept the challenge, the revised answer key applies to every candidate who wrote the exam. Thus, one accurate challenge can correct the record for lakhs of others. The fee is also refunded if you’re right.”

A UGC NET aspirant, Anjali Srivastava, said, “I appeared for the political science paper and found that there were 12 questions, whose answers could be challenged. But challenging 12 questions would cost me Rs 2,400. Why should we pay for the NTA’s mistakes?”

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#AnswerKeyChallenge #CandidateConcerns #ChallengeAnswerKey #ExamFees #FairTesting #NTAExams #UGCNET EducationPolicy NTA StudentRights

NTA defends Rs 200 fee for challenging answer key

Says meant to deter frivolous objections | Why should we pay for the NTA’s mistakes: Aspirant

Tribune News Service

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