Technical problems reported at some centres; in some, the system crashed in the first slot of the day.
Despite year-round assurances by Prometric India, the firm conducting the online Common Admission Test (CAT) for entry to the Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs), the second edition that began on Wednesday is turning out to be as glitch-ridden as the first.
It was dogged by technical problems in some centres in the city, while at a couple others, the system crashed in the first slot of the day.
Sanket Walawalkar, a final year engineering student, had to face a series of technical glitches at his centre in Vikhroli, delaying his test by one-and-a-half hour. When Walawalkar entered his class, he was unable to log in. “We were delayed by 45 minutes. As soon as I managed to log in, my computer hung and the screen went blank. Though they replaced the machine, such a long delay was too much to handle,” said Walawalkar. He added that the test site code on his hall ticket was also printed incorrect, which took even more time to sort out.
Another student at the Vikhroli centre, Saarthak Ray, said, “We were unable to log in for over 45 minutes. However, after the initial glitches and hassles, the system worked smoothly. The exams went off without any problems. The students were given sufficient time to complete the test.”
Saket Shikha, who was attempting to bell the CAT for the first time, had to spend a tense 30 minutes as the test failed to start and she could not log in. “There was a technical glitch and it was most probably a software problem. The problem was rectified, but I was tensed, even though the test was not very tough,” said the final-year commerce student who gave her exam at an Andheri (East) centre.
Ekta Mishra, who appeared from the same centre, also faced login problems. “My screen went blank, but the problem was solved after 5-7 minutes,” she said.
However, officials from Prometric claimed that the test was administered smoothly. Prometric has confirmed that 4,548 candidates registered for the CAT on Wednesday and all the candidates successfully completed it. “The candidates were able to take the test under appropriate testing conditions,” said Soumitra Roy, managing director, Prometric India. Himanshu Rai, CAT convenor, remained unavailable for comment.
About the delay at the Vikhroli centre, Roy said, “One of the four labs at Auratech Solutions in Mumbai experienced a short delay in checking candidates in during the morning session. All the 37 candidates started their test no more than half-an-hour later and have successfully completed testing. This minor delay is well within worldwide industry standards for the administration of a computer-based test.”
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