The National Testing Agency (NTA) will implement facial biometric authentication during examinations and introduce live photography at the application stage to strengthen exam security across all entrance examinations, beginning with JEE (Main) in January 2026.
The move aims to curb impersonation and other malpractices by enabling real-time identity verification of candidates at multiple stages of the examination process, officials said.
“They will be implementing a facial recognition system during the examination and live photography during the filing of the application,” Secretary of Higher Education Vineet Joshi said during a media interaction.
“This will be implemented from January, starting with JEE (Main),” he added.
Facial biometric verification confirms a person’s identity by analysing unique facial features, such as the distance between the eyes or the shape of the nose, to create a digital template. This template is then compared with stored data, often using artificial intelligence for analysis.
Live photo capture through webcams or mobile phones will also be used during online applications or examinations to prevent impersonation.
The Joint Entrance Examination (Main) 2026, conducted by the NTA, is scheduled to be held from January 21 to January 30, 2026.
Established in 2017, the NTA conducts major national-level entrance examinations, including the Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) Main for engineering admissions, the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test–Undergraduate (NEET-UG) for medical courses, and the Common University Entrance Test (CUET) for undergraduate and postgraduate programmes in central universities.
These measures form part of the recommendations of the Radhakrishnan Committee, which was constituted following widespread reports of malpractices in the NEET-UG 2024 examination.
The government-appointed committee has proposed a major overhaul of India’s entrance examination system, with a focus on digitalisation, security, and streamlined processes.
The seven-member panel, led by former ISRO chief R. Radhakrishnan, outlined a two-phase reform plan. Phase one (immediate and short-term) includes restructuring the NTA and introducing multi-level biometric verification at stages such as registration, examination centres, and counselling. Phase two (long-term) proposes the creation of a “Digi-Exam” platform featuring biometric-based digital examinations, similar to the DigiYatra model.
To further prevent examination breaches, the committee has recommended multi-level biometric verification across registration, test centres, counselling, and admissions, with the aim of creating a more secure and tamper-proof testing environment.
(ANI)
