Amid mounting criticism over the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE)’s new on-screen marking (OSM) system, VSN Raju, CEO of Hyderabad-based Coempt Edu Tech, has defended the digital assessment platform, saying the complaints reported so far are isolated and do not indicate a broader technological failure.
In an interview with The News Minute, Raju said claims that the system is riddled with problems are “completely false”, even as students continue to raise concerns about unclear answer sheets, mismatched transcripts and frequent portal crashes.
“It’s not that the entire system is wrong or that many issues have come up. This is a completely false allegation,” Raju told The News Minute, describing the complaints as “unique”.
CBSE introduced OSM for Class 12 board exams in 2026, digitizing the assessment of the answer book in a move the board said would reduce manual intervention and eliminate gross errors. However, the rollout sparked controversy after several students alleged discrepancies in the answer sheets submitted by the board.
Raju says the Vedant Shrivastava case is a “human error”.
The issue gained momentum after Delhi student Vedant Shrivastava claimed that the physics answer sheet shared by CBSE was not his. Students also complained about alternating pages, unclear scans, and difficulty accessing answer booklets.
Responding to the Vedant Shrivastava case, Raju told the media that Quimpet’s initial findings point to “human error” during the survey and not a fault in the technology.
“We have identified the location and who conducted the survey, and we have determined with 100% certainty that there is nothing wrong technologically. We are currently investigating,” he said, adding that he could “boldly say” there was no technological problem in the case.
Raju also said that about 95% of students who applied for copies of their answer booklets have already received them and are assured that the scanners used by the company are as per industry standards.
Regarding complaints about unclear answer sheets, Raju said CBSE is addressing the concerns and students will receive their copies soon, though he declined to give a timeline.
Rahul Gandhi attacks CBSE over Coempt contract
The controversy has also attracted political attention. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi recently questioned why Coempt Edutech was awarded the CBSE contract despite what he described as the company’s “murky past” linked to controversies related to Telangana exams.
CBSE rejected Gandhi’s claims, saying the contract was awarded after following due process under general financial rules. According to the Board, the Request for Proposal for Digital Evaluation of Answer Books was released in August 2025 and the contract was awarded to the qualified bidder after audit.
The News Minute reported that the final stage of the tender process was launched in November 2025 and that Tata Consultancy Services and Coempt were the two companies that met the technical criteria.
Hacker claims related to ‘test server’
Headquartered in Hyderabad, Coempt Edutech describes itself as an exam technology company with over 25 years of experience in digital assessment and digitization of answer books. The company says it handles exams for more than two million students annually.
Raju also addressed the allegations of a 19-year-old ethical hacker who allegedly hacked into the platform and exposed vulnerabilities. According to him, the main CBSE server was not hacked.
He told The News Minute: “What he managed to hack was a server used for testing, which is never used for any client. It is used for internal purposes, with mock tests, and has public access.”
Coempt denies limited allegations about the test run
Raju also rejected media reports claiming that CBSE conducted only a limited pilot before rolling out OSM nationwide. He said that several pilot rounds had been conducted since mid-January across the country with the participation of thousands of teachers.
“In one day, as many as 40,000 faculty members went online and conducted a pilot evaluation,” he said.
The controversy over the Telangana exam is resurfacing
The company has also faced renewed scrutiny over its past association with the 2019 Telangana intermediate exam controversy, when more than 3.8 lakh students failed and more than 20 students died due to suicide amid allegations of evaluation and administrative errors.
At the time, the software provider in question was Globarena Technologies, which later changed its name to Coempt Edu Tech. Company records cited by The News Minute show the name change occurred within months of the controversy.
Asked about the name change, Raju denied any attempt to distance the company from controversy.
“We have changed our name, all our customers know it, and I am still the CEO. We are not hiding,” he told The News Minute, while also noting that the High Court and Supreme Court had acquitted the company of lawsuits related to the Telangana case.
The Supreme Court noted in 2019 that only 1,183 out of 3.8 lakh failed students were subsequently declared successful, representing an assessment error rate of 0.16%, and dismissed petitions seeking re-evaluation and criminal proceedings against the company.
