The Ministry of Education has sought a detailed report from the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) regarding the awarding of a contract to COEMPT, the service provider associated with the board's On-Screen Marking (OSM) system. According to sources, the ministry has asked CBSE to furnish complete details of the tender process, including the procedures followed while awarding the contract and the officials involved in the decision-making process.
The development comes amid growing scrutiny over the OSM system after several students flagged discrepancies in answer sheets uploaded during the re-evaluation process. Sources said the ministry has already collected preliminary information related to the tendering process and is examining various aspects of how the contract was awarded.
The review is aimed at determining whether all prescribed norms and procedures were followed during the selection of the service provider. Officials are expected to submit detailed records and documents related to the tender process.
Strict action again officials found responsible
The Ministry of Education has indicated that strict action could be recommended against officials found responsible for any lapses or irregularities in the award of the contract. Sources said accountability will be fixed if the review uncovers procedural violations or shortcomings in the tender process.
CBSE cannot blacklist COEMPT under current contract
A key aspect that has come under focus is that CBSE currently does not have the authority to blacklist COEMPT under the final version of the contract. Sources said the original tender issued by CBSE in August 2025 contained provisions allowing the board to take stringent action against the vendor in cases of serious negligence or repeated violations.
Under those provisions, a CBSE committee could issue a show-cause notice to the company, forfeit its Performance Bank Guarantee (PBG), terminate the contract and even blacklist the vendor. The tender also allowed the board to confiscate the security deposit and blacklist the company in cases of repeated breaches of contractual obligations.
However, these provisions were significantly altered through a corrigendum issued in September 2025.
Blacklisting clause removed through corrigendum
Sources said the September 2025 corrigendum removed the blacklisting provision from the contract. As a result, while CBSE retained the powers to impose financial penalties, forfeit security deposits and terminate the agreement, it no longer has the authority to blacklist the vendor under the current contract.
The development is likely to draw attention as the Education Ministry reviews the circumstances surrounding the contract award.
Penalties limited to finanical actioin
Under the final contract, the vendor can face substantial financial penalties and even termination of the agreement, but cannot be blacklisted.
The contract reportedly provides:
- A penalty of Rs 1 lakh for every 15-minute delay in resolving critical issues flagged by CBSE.
- A penalty of Rs 1 lakh for every 60-minute delay in submitting a root-cause analysis and corrective action plan.
- Forfeiture of security deposits in serious cases.
- Termination of the contract for major violations or failures.
Despite these provisions, the absence of a blacklisting clause has emerged as a significant point in the ongoing scrutiny of the contract.
OSM system being closely monitored
Amid the controversy, CBSE on Sunday had said it is closely monitoring vulnerabilities in the OSM portal operated by its service provider. In a statement posted on X, the board said teams of cybersecurity experts from various government agencies and Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) have been deployed to strengthen the system and move it to a more secure setup.
According to CBSE, the experts have been working on the issue for several days and the identified vulnerabilities have already been contained. The board added that efforts are underway to rule out any remaining exploitable weaknesses.
CBSE also thanked alert citizens and ethical hackers who flagged concerns and invited others to share security-related inputs with its technical teams.
What is the CBSE OSM controversy?
The controversy erupted after a Class 12 student, Vedant, alleged that the Physics answer sheet uploaded by CBSE during the re-evaluation process did not belong to him. His post on social media platform X quickly went viral, prompting several other students to raise similar concerns about the answer sheets they had accessed through the portal.
The allegations triggered widespread debate over the reliability of the newly introduced OSM system. Citing government sources, reports indicated that answer-sheet mix-ups were identified in around 20 cases during the OSM process.
Officials said more than 98 lakh answer sheets were scanned through the digital evaluation system. Of these, nearly 68,000 copies were found to have quality issues during scanning and had to be rescanned.
Even after rescanning, slightly over 13,000 answer sheets reportedly did not achieve the required level of legibility.
Also Read: CBSE says OSM portal 'vulnerabilities contained', deploys IIT teams for cybersecurity review
