The Common Admission Test (CAT) that was supposed to go paperless from today has been rescheduled at some centres as the servers developed some glitches.
Reports are pouring in from several places in the country that because of network problems, the CAT examination has been put off.
At centres in Chennai, Kolkata, Bangalore, Indore, Pune and Bhopal the test has been put off.
Meanwhile, IIM authorities, have denied reports that online exam servers crashed. They have told the HRD Ministry that the exam was not cancelled but has been rescheduled at some centres. According to them the problem occurred as some students signed up in multiple centres.
Union HRD Minister Kapil Sibal said that IIMs are an autonomous institution and the ministry does not interfere until it is absolutely necessary. The IIM authorities need to sort out the problems at their own level to ensure the inconvenience caused to students is minimised in the shortest timeframe.
Over 2.4 lakh candidates were expected to appear for the first online exams seeking entry to the prestigious Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs).
The test, which goes paperless from this year, is scheduled between November 28 and December 7 and will be conducted at 105 centres in 32 cities across the country.
As the new pattern of holding the tests online is still experimental, the authorities have advised students to conduct the requisite checks from their end.
The pattern of the exam - that of the questions and distribution of subjects - is to remain unchanged in the new format.
A total of 2,41,582 students will appear for the exam this year, which is a marginal drop as compared to last year when 2.46 lakh students appeared for CAT.
Directional maps detailing the locations of all test centres have been made available on the CAT website by Prometric, the American firm that is organising the first computer-based CAT in India.
The company has also released an online guide for students on the website. The guide gives a detailed tutorial into a range of things from using the mouse to navigating through the test paper and how to mark or unmark questions for review.