The National Testing Agency (NTA) has issued a notification announcing stringent measures, including a three-year ban, against 39 candidates found guilty of using unfair means in the Joint Entrance Exam (JEE) Main 2024.

Earlier, the agency reported a case of impersonation and detected nine instances of unfair means on the first day of the JEE-Main Session 2. The fraud cases were identified through the use of AI tools, specifically iFace, deployed to monitor malpractices during the exam.

iFace, an AI technology introduced by the NTA, verifies candidates' identities by cross-verifying the photo on their admit card with a live photograph taken at the exam center, alongside mandatory frisking and electronic Know Your Customer (eKYC) procedures. The NTA also deployed a significant workforce for biometric authentication, frisking, CCTV surveillance, and jamming services.

The JEE Main exam was conducted in two sessions this year, with the first session taking place from January 28 to February 1 and the second session from April 4 to 9. The result of Paper 1 (BE / BTech) was declared on April 24, 2024.

In response to candidates' concerns regarding issues such as scorecard display, the NTA reiterated its stance that multiple application forms submitted by a candidate would lead to result cancellation. The notification clarified that any candidate with multiple application numbers or scorecards would be treated as using unfair means, even if discovered later, with strict action to follow.

Additionally, following court directives, candidates are prohibited from obtaining two scorecards with different application numbers for the same examination in a year. Therefore, for candidates who appeared multiple times with different application numbers, the NTA has included only their best scores in the scorecard.