INICET aspirants flag portal crash, far-off exam centres | India News
New Delhi: Thousands of postgraduate medical aspirants appearing for the May 2026 Nationally Important Combined Entrance Test (INI-CET) have faced delays in allotment of admit cards and examination centers hundreds of kilometers away, just a week ahead of the May 16 exam.The exam conducted by AIIMS Delhi released the admit card around 3 pm on May 9, but candidates complained that the website slowed down or crashed soon after, preventing many from downloading hall tickets for around 9-10 hours. Several students said they could access the portal only after midnight, triggering a flood of complaints on social media.“You charge ₹4,000 for the application form and the website still crashes for hours,” Dr Aman Kumar (@manish__aman) tweeted.According to AIIMS officials, heavy traffic from simultaneous logins temporarily slows down the portal. “If one lakh people access a website at the same time, it may slow down or crash. This happens with many exams, including NEET. The site is now working well and candidates are able to download admit cards,” officials said.Candidates are also flagging the allotment of remote examination centers. Candidates from large states like Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra and Rajasthan said they were allotted centers 500-800 km away because INI-CET collected only state-wise, not city-wise, preferences during registration.An Agra-based candidate said he was allotted Varanasi, about 650 km away, while a Mumbai candidate claimed to have taken Nanded as his centre, adding to travel costs and logistical difficulties. Students said it can take 12-24 hours to travel between states like UP and Rajasthan, while the seven-day gap between admit card release and examination leaves little time for guaranteed train or flight bookings.“There are hundreds of such cases,” said a candidate, urging AIIMS to review the center allocation process.On complaints about remote centres, AIIMS officials said the allotments depend on seat availability and preference patterns, adding that candidates are asked to fill state-wise rather than city-wise preferences to prevent possible malpractices in center allotments. “Attempt is always to allocate the nearest possible centre, but in big states like Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Maharashtra, some candidates may still get centers 500-800 km away if nearby seats are filled,” officials said.AIIMS Delhi Associate Dean (Examination) Dr Naval K. Vikram said around 95,000 candidates got their first or second choice state and more than one lakh candidates are appearing for the exam this year. About 96,000 admit cards have already been downloaded till Sunday, he said.INI-CET is conducted twice a year, in May and November, for admission to postgraduate courses in AIIMS and other nationally important institutes across the country.
