Hyderabad's Coempt Eduteck under scanner amid CBSE portal fiasco, conflict-of-interest charge
The controversy around CBSE's On-Screen Marking system is no longer limited to technical glitches. Questions are now being raised about the private company allegedly linked to the platform, cybersecurity warnings that surfaced months ago, and whether there could be a conflict of interest in the ongoing review of the system.
The biggest question in the ongoing CBSE On-Screen Marking (OSM) controversy is no longer just about blurred answer sheets, portal glitches or answer sheet mix-ups. The spotlight is now on the private company allegedly linked to the system and possible conflict of interest in the review process.
The controversy gained momentum after social media posts claimed that former IIT Madras professor S Sadagopan is a director at Hyderabad-based Coempt EduTeck Pvt Ltd, a company allegedly linked to CBSE’s digital evaluation infrastructure.
At the same time, current IIT Madras Director V Kamakoti is expected to help examine concerns related to the OSM glitches that have affected several CBSE Class 12 students this year.
The posts questioned whether there could be a conflict of interest, given the long academic association between the two names.
But the discussion has intensified because CBSE has still not publicly clarified which private company handled the digital infrastructure behind one of the country’s biggest school evaluation systems.
The opposition leader, Rahul Gandhi, wrote on X, " The CBSE examination results have been marred by massive irregularities, leaving millions of students across the country, along with their parents, in a state of shock."
THE CONTROVERSIAL COMPANY BEHIND THE SYSTEM
Nisarga Adhikary, the 19-year-old ethical hacker whose findings later went viral online, identified Coempt EduTeck Pvt Ltd as the apparent vendor associated with the OnMark digital evaluation platform used in CBSE’s OSM process.
CBSE’s 2026 On-Screen Marking system was operated through the OnMark digital evaluation platform, with infrastructure linked to Coempt Eduteck Pvt Ltd, according to official CBSE OSM portals and evaluator manuals.
However, CBSE has not officially confirmed the vendor structure behind the OSM system or publicly named any private company involved in handling the platform.
The company has previously appeared in reports related to digital evaluation projects. In a separate matter linked to the CHSE Odisha Plus II e-evaluation process, Coempt EduTeck, formerly known as Globarena Technology Pvt Ltd, had faced questions regarding the execution of digital evaluation work and subcontracting arrangements.
Coempt EduTeck had faced scrutiny earlier during the 2019 Telangana Intermediate Board results controversy, when technical and evaluation-related problems sparked massive protests after thousands of students alleged discrepancies in their marks.
India Today.in attempted to contact Coempt EduTeck regarding the controversy. The company said it would respond, but no clarification had been received at the time of publication.
Queries sent to CBSE also remained unanswered.
Rahul Gandhi also mentioned Coempt's involvement in Telangana Intermediate Board results, saying that despite the company’s past record being publicly known, it was still entrusted with handling a critical national examination process involving nearly 18.5 lakh students.
Rahul Gandhi demanded answers on how the contract was awarded to the company and called for a judicial inquiry and SIT probe into the CBSE OSM controversy, saying students should not suffer because of systemic failures.
WARNINGS WERE RAISED MONTHS AGO
What has made the controversy more serious is that concerns around the system may not have emerged suddenly after the results.
According to Nisarga Adhikary, vulnerabilities in the OSM portal had allegedly been flagged months earlier. The researcher claimed he had alerted CERT-In, the government’s cybersecurity agency, regarding possible technical and security risks associated with the platform.
India Today.in also spoke to a cybersecurity expert familiar with large-scale digital infrastructure, who requested anonymity. The expert said, "Coempt uses a product by Microsoft called Internet Information Server which is very old."
He also questioned whether the platform was adequately designed and stress-tested to handle lakhs of students attempting to access it simultaneously.
"The system that you create has to be designed in such a way which is able to handle that sort of load,” the expert said, adding that the technology stack being used appeared "very, very ancient."
The expert said that parts of the platform relied on outdated infrastructure and claimed the system architecture itself appeared weak. “It is not designed to handle the load of millions of customers,” he said.
Concerns were also raised over the payment gateway and coding structure of the portal.
Nisarga Adhikary claimed that within a short period he identified weaknesses in how login credentials were handled, adding, "The first vulnerability took around 30 minutes. Overall, maybe two or three hours."
He also claimed that the master password was given in the code, which would make it easier for anyone to hack the system.
The expert further questioned whether mandatory Vulnerability Assessment and Penetration Testing (VAPT) had been properly conducted before deployment. “VAPT testing is mandatory for public-facing systems,” he said.
WHEN GLITCHES START AFFECTING STUDENTS
The controversy moved beyond cybersecurity circles after students began reporting serious problems during the answer-sheet access and scrutiny process following CBSE Class 12 results.
The OSM system, which digitally scans and uploads answer sheets for on-screen evaluation, was introduced this year to improve speed and reduce manual errors. But, students reported blurred scanned pages, missing answer-sheet pages, incorrect sequencing and even alleged answer-script mismatches.
In one case, students Vedant and Sanjana claimed their answer sheets appeared mixed up during the post-result process, raising concerns over whether errors may have occurred during scanning or mapping.
Vedant alleged that his physics answer sheet was mixed up. CBSE later accepted the mistake and, after examining, the correct answer sheet was sent to him.
For the students, these were not minor technical faults. A missing page or mismatched answer sheet in a board examination can directly affect marks, admissions and future academic opportunities.
This year, one in four students applied for re-scanned answer sheets, which has been the highest in recent years. What led to such high numbers of copies, is the failure of the system of India's biggest school board.
That is why the controversy is now raising larger national questions. If critical examination databases and evaluation systems are increasingly dependent on private technology firms, should there not be greater transparency about who handles them, what safeguards exist, and who is finally accountable when things go wrong?
The biggest question in the ongoing CBSE On-Screen Marking (OSM) controversy is no longer just about blurred answer sheets, portal glitches or answer sheet mix-ups. The spotlight is now on the private company allegedly linked to the system and possible conflict of interest in the review process.
The controversy gained momentum after social media posts claimed that former IIT Madras professor S Sadagopan is a director at Hyderabad-based Coempt EduTeck Pvt Ltd, a company allegedly linked to CBSE’s digital evaluation infrastructure.
At the same time, current IIT Madras Director V Kamakoti is expected to help examine concerns related to the OSM glitches that have affected several CBSE Class 12 students this year.
The posts questioned whether there could be a conflict of interest, given the long academic association between the two names.
But the discussion has intensified because CBSE has still not publicly clarified which private company handled the digital infrastructure behind one of the country’s biggest school evaluation systems.
The opposition leader, Rahul Gandhi, wrote on X, " The CBSE examination results have been marred by massive irregularities, leaving millions of students across the country, along with their parents, in a state of shock."
THE CONTROVERSIAL COMPANY BEHIND THE SYSTEM
Nisarga Adhikary, the 19-year-old ethical hacker whose findings later went viral online, identified Coempt EduTeck Pvt Ltd as the apparent vendor associated with the OnMark digital evaluation platform used in CBSE’s OSM process.
CBSE’s 2026 On-Screen Marking system was operated through the OnMark digital evaluation platform, with infrastructure linked to Coempt Eduteck Pvt Ltd, according to official CBSE OSM portals and evaluator manuals.
However, CBSE has not officially confirmed the vendor structure behind the OSM system or publicly named any private company involved in handling the platform.
The company has previously appeared in reports related to digital evaluation projects. In a separate matter linked to the CHSE Odisha Plus II e-evaluation process, Coempt EduTeck, formerly known as Globarena Technology Pvt Ltd, had faced questions regarding the execution of digital evaluation work and subcontracting arrangements.
Coempt EduTeck had faced scrutiny earlier during the 2019 Telangana Intermediate Board results controversy, when technical and evaluation-related problems sparked massive protests after thousands of students alleged discrepancies in their marks.
India Today.in attempted to contact Coempt EduTeck regarding the controversy. The company said it would respond, but no clarification had been received at the time of publication.
Queries sent to CBSE also remained unanswered.
Rahul Gandhi also mentioned Coempt's involvement in Telangana Intermediate Board results, saying that despite the company’s past record being publicly known, it was still entrusted with handling a critical national examination process involving nearly 18.5 lakh students.
Rahul Gandhi demanded answers on how the contract was awarded to the company and called for a judicial inquiry and SIT probe into the CBSE OSM controversy, saying students should not suffer because of systemic failures.
WARNINGS WERE RAISED MONTHS AGO
What has made the controversy more serious is that concerns around the system may not have emerged suddenly after the results.
According to Nisarga Adhikary, vulnerabilities in the OSM portal had allegedly been flagged months earlier. The researcher claimed he had alerted CERT-In, the government’s cybersecurity agency, regarding possible technical and security risks associated with the platform.
India Today.in also spoke to a cybersecurity expert familiar with large-scale digital infrastructure, who requested anonymity. The expert said, "Coempt uses a product by Microsoft called Internet Information Server which is very old."
He also questioned whether the platform was adequately designed and stress-tested to handle lakhs of students attempting to access it simultaneously.
"The system that you create has to be designed in such a way which is able to handle that sort of load,” the expert said, adding that the technology stack being used appeared "very, very ancient."
The expert said that parts of the platform relied on outdated infrastructure and claimed the system architecture itself appeared weak. “It is not designed to handle the load of millions of customers,” he said.
Concerns were also raised over the payment gateway and coding structure of the portal.
Nisarga Adhikary claimed that within a short period he identified weaknesses in how login credentials were handled, adding, "The first vulnerability took around 30 minutes. Overall, maybe two or three hours."
He also claimed that the master password was given in the code, which would make it easier for anyone to hack the system.
The expert further questioned whether mandatory Vulnerability Assessment and Penetration Testing (VAPT) had been properly conducted before deployment. “VAPT testing is mandatory for public-facing systems,” he said.
WHEN GLITCHES START AFFECTING STUDENTS
The controversy moved beyond cybersecurity circles after students began reporting serious problems during the answer-sheet access and scrutiny process following CBSE Class 12 results.
The OSM system, which digitally scans and uploads answer sheets for on-screen evaluation, was introduced this year to improve speed and reduce manual errors. But, students reported blurred scanned pages, missing answer-sheet pages, incorrect sequencing and even alleged answer-script mismatches.
In one case, students Vedant and Sanjana claimed their answer sheets appeared mixed up during the post-result process, raising concerns over whether errors may have occurred during scanning or mapping.
Vedant alleged that his physics answer sheet was mixed up. CBSE later accepted the mistake and, after examining, the correct answer sheet was sent to him.
For the students, these were not minor technical faults. A missing page or mismatched answer sheet in a board examination can directly affect marks, admissions and future academic opportunities.
This year, one in four students applied for re-scanned answer sheets, which has been the highest in recent years. What led to such high numbers of copies, is the failure of the system of India's biggest school board.
That is why the controversy is now raising larger national questions. If critical examination databases and evaluation systems are increasingly dependent on private technology firms, should there not be greater transparency about who handles them, what safeguards exist, and who is finally accountable when things go wrong?
