Following a controversy over a National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (Undergraduate) [NEET-UG] candidate from Nagpur being allotted an examination centre in Abu Dhabi, the National Testing Agency (NTA) on Saturday said its records show that the city change was made through the candidate’s own login credentials during the correction window and that the agency had acted swiftly to shift the centre back to Nagpur after receiving a request from the family.

In a statement posted on X, the agency said it had reopened the examination-city correction window after NEET-UG 2026 was rescheduled to June 21, allowing candidates to modify their preferred test city. According to the NTA, around 320,000 candidates used the facility and more than 99.5 per cent were allotted their preferred examination city.

Responding specifically to the Nagpur-Abu Dhabi case, the agency said its web activity records indicated that the city change was carried out through the candidate’s registered login during the open correction period. It added that the access pattern reflected a “consistent single-user” activity, suggesting that the modification had been made using the candidate’s own credentials.

“NTA’s web activity records indicate that the city change in this case was made through the candidate’s own registered login during the open correction window, with a consistent single-user access pattern,” said the agency.

The NTA said the candidate’s account showed three interactions related to the centre selection — the city was changed to Abu Dhabi once and subsequently previewed twice. Despite this, the agency said it received a request on June 19, 48 hours before the examination, to shift the centre to Nagpur. Officials immediately initiated the change and contacted the candidate’s father to complete the formalities.

“NTA has observed that on three occasions, the centre was changed to Abu Dhabi using the candidate’s credentials once and was previewed twice as Abu Dhabi. Despite that, NTA has acceded to the aspirant’s request and the change of centre was actioned,” NTA added.

The agency said the request was approved and the centre was shifted to Nagpur, reiterating that its priority was to ensure that no candidate missed the examination over an administrative issue. The clarification follows social media criticism over the allotment of an overseas examination centre to a Nagpur-based candidate.