Repeat Offender? Hyderabad Firm Behind CBSE Crisis Also Linked To Telangana Exam Row In 2019

What was expected to become a landmark year for digital reform in the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) examination system has instead triggered widespread anger, confusion and mistrust among students and parents across the country.

The controversy surrounding the evaluation of CBSE answer sheets in 2026 has now grown far beyond complaints over low marks. Reports of exchanged answer sheets, blurred scanned copies, repeated portal crashes and unexpectedly high reevaluation fees have created a crisis of trust in the examination process itself.

At the centre of the controversy is Coempt Edu Teck, the company handling the board’s new On-Screen Marking system, also known as OSM.

What is the OSM system?

The OSM system was introduced by CBSE for the first time during

the recently concluded academic year. Under the digital evaluation process, physical answer books were scanned and uploaded online for teachers to evaluate on screen instead of checking paper copies manually.

After evaluation, students could access scanned versions of their answer sheets by paying a fee if they wished to seek verification or re-evaluation.

With more than 18 lakh students appearing for the Class 12 board examinations, nearly 98 lakh answer sheets had to be scanned and uploaded for evaluation. The process required large-scale scanning operations and digital management of an enormous volume of examination material.

What we know about Coempt Edu Teck?

Coempt Edu Teck, which is now facing scrutiny over the CBSE controversy, had earlier faced criticism in another examination-related dispute. The company previously operated as Globarena Technologies.

In 2019, Globarena Technologies became involved in controversy linked to the Telangana Intermediate Board examinations in 2019 after discrepancies were reported in Intermediate or Plus 2 examination results.

At that time, opposition parties in Telangana alleged that the company received the contract because of its closeness to senior political leaders in the state government. However, Coempt chief executive VSN Raju denied the allegations and said the company secured the contract after winning both technical and financial bids.

He stated that the company demonstrated technical capability while also offering lower pricing. The company describes itself as an experienced provider of examination solutions.

According to information available on its website, Coempt claims to have more than 25 years of experience in automating examination systems for certificate-awarding bodies.

The company says it provides services including pre-examination management, question paper handling, AI-based online examinations, answer-book digitisation, digital evaluation and post-examination services.

Coempt has also appointed noted educationist Sadagopan as chairman. However, questions over the functioning of the OSM system have continued to grow as students and teachers point to technical failures during one of the country’s most important public examinations.

Complaints over scanning and evaluation

Teachers involved in the evaluation process have raised concerns about the quality of the scanned answer sheets. The Hindu BusinessLine quoted a CBSE teacher who said nearly 30 answer sheets had to be rejected because of problems such as unclear images and duplicate entries.

Another teacher said doubts had already emerged during the trial run conducted before the examinations, with some evaluators questioning whether the board should return to the traditional method of checking papers.

The quality of scanning has now become one of the biggest concerns because the same digital copies are also used for reevaluation and verification requests.

Several students shared screenshots and videos on social media platforms such as X and Instagram showing blurred answer sheets and alleged mix-ups involving scripts belonging to different students.

The issue quickly triggered nationwide criticism online.