Hyderabad-based Coempt Edu Tech has defended the Central Board of Secondary Education’s (CBSE) new On-Screen Marking (OSM) system amid growing criticism and complaints from Class 12 students over alleged discrepancies in answer sheet evaluation.
The company’s CEO, VSN Raju, said the issues reported so far are isolated incidents and not evidence of any large-scale technological failure in the digital evaluation process.
Speaking to The News Minute, Raju dismissed allegations that the system was fundamentally flawed.
“It is not that the entire system is wrong or that so many issues have come up. That’s absolutely a wrong allegation,” he said.
What Is CBSE’s OSM System?
The CBSE introduced the On-Screen Marking (OSM) system for Class 12 board examinations in 2026. Under the system, answer sheets are scanned digitally and evaluated online instead of through traditional manual checking.
According to CBSE, the system was introduced to reduce manual errors, improve transparency and speed up the evaluation process.
However, several students have raised concerns after receiving allegedly blurred answer sheets, mismatched copies and facing technical difficulties while accessing scanned answer booklets online.
Vedant Shrivastava Case Sparks Nationwide Debate
The controversy gained national attention after Delhi student Vedant Shrivastava claimed that the Physics answer sheet shared by CBSE was not his.
Addressing the case, VSN Raju said the preliminary investigation suggested a “human error” during the scanning process rather than a technology-related issue.
“We have identified the location and the person involved in scanning. Technologically, there is no error,” Raju reportedly said.
He added that nearly 95 percent of students who requested answer sheet copies had already received them and assured that remaining concerns were being addressed.
Complaints Over Blurred Copies And Portal Issues
Apart from mismatched answer sheets, students have also reported blurred scans, swapped pages and repeated portal crashes while trying to access their evaluated copies.
Raju maintained that the scanners used by the company meet industry standards and insisted the core digital system remains secure and reliable.
He also said CBSE is working to resolve pending issues related to answer booklet access, although no specific timeline has been announced.
Rahul Gandhi Questions Coempt Contract
The controversy has also triggered political reactions. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi recently questioned why Coempt Edu Tech was awarded the CBSE contract despite its alleged connection to previous examination controversies in Telangana.
CBSE rejected the allegations and clarified that the contract was awarded through a transparent process under the General Financial Rules.
According to the board, the tender for digital evaluation was floated in August 2025 and awarded only after technical scrutiny and due procedure.
Reports suggest Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) and Coempt Edu Tech were among the companies that qualified technically during the bidding process.
Hacker Claims Linked To Testing Server
Raju also addressed claims made by a 19-year-old ethical hacker who alleged that he had accessed vulnerabilities in the platform.
According to the Coempt CEO, the server accessed was only a testing server used internally for trial purposes and not the actual CBSE examination server.
“What was accessed was a dummy testing server and not any live client database,” he clarified.
Telangana Exam Controversy Resurfaces
Coempt Edu Tech has also come under renewed scrutiny over its previous association with the 2019 Telangana intermediate examination controversy.
At the time, the software provider involved was Globarena Technologies, which later changed its name to Coempt Edu Tech.
The Telangana controversy had sparked massive outrage after more than 3.8 lakh students failed and over 20 students reportedly died by suicide amid allegations of evaluation errors.
Responding to questions over the company’s name change, Raju denied any attempt to distance the firm from past controversies.
“We changed our name openly. Our clients know this and I continue to remain the CEO,” he said.
He also pointed out that both the High Court and Supreme Court had cleared the company in litigation related to the Telangana examination matter.
CBSE Faces Continued Pressure
As complaints continue to emerge, pressure is mounting on CBSE to ensure transparency and restore confidence among students and parents regarding the new evaluation system.
The board has repeatedly defended the OSM system, stating that digitisation is intended to improve efficiency and minimise traditional marking errors.
Meanwhile, students and education experts are demanding quicker grievance redressal and stronger verification mechanisms to prevent further confusion during the evaluation process.
