NEW DELHI: Even after extending the deadline for obtaining scanned copies of Class XII answer books, the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) continues to face mounting criticism from students and parents over persistent technical failures, payment glitches and inaccessible services during the post-result review process.With May 24 marked as the final date for applying for scanned answer books, many students on Saturday continued reporting failed transactions, delayed payment confirmations, inaccessible pages and difficulties in downloading answer scripts despite successful payments. The fresh wave of complaints has intensified demands for another extension of the application window.CBSE announces refunds for wrong fee deductionsIn an official notice issued on May 24, CBSE acknowledged that “certain technical issues” on May 21 and May 22 had resulted in incorrect fee deductions during applications for scanned answer books.According to the board, some candidates were charged excess amounts, while in other cases lesser amounts were deducted during the payment process.“In all cases of excess payment, the exact excess amounts shall be refunded to the same payment method which was used for payment,” the board said in the notice issued by Controller of Examinations Dr Sanyam Bhardwaj.CBSE further clarified that students affected by payment discrepancies would still receive scanned copies of their evaluated answer books without having to submit fresh applications.“In cases where lesser payment was deducted, candidates shall be informed separately regarding payment of the balance amount, if required,” the board added.Students continue reporting portal problemsDespite the clarification, students continued posting complaints on social media regarding unsuccessful payments, missing answer scripts and repeated server-related errors.Several candidates said payments were deducted multiple times without confirmation receipts being generated. Others claimed they were unable to access downloaded answer books after successful transactions.The latest complaints come days after CBSE admitted that its online answer sheet portal had suffered technical disruptions due to unusually high traffic during the application process.Earlier, the board had stated that more than 98.6 lakh answer sheets were evaluated this year under the On-Screen Marking system and acknowledged receiving feedback regarding blurred pages, missing responses and evaluation-related concerns after scanned copies were viewed.Pressure grows over another extensionThe current application process is part of CBSE’s post-result grievance mechanism introduced after the declaration of Class XII results, which recorded an overall pass percentage of 85.20%.Students are first required to obtain scanned copies of evaluated answer books before applying for verification or re-evaluation.Although CBSE has not announced any further extension beyond May 24, uncertainty continues among applicants still unable to complete the process due to technical issues.
