Check-in queue outside the CAT center at Asia Pacific Institute of Management, Jasola, New Delhi

On the first day of the Common Admission Test (CAT) 2012, the morning slot tests were running behind time by at least forty minutes to an hour at a few centres in New Delhi and Faridabad. Administrative delays during the check-in process as well as technical snags faced while logging in to the test were the major reasons that caused these delays.

Prometric confirmed that 4,429 candidates registered for the CAT today across both the morning and evening slots, and all candidates completed their tests successfully.

The CAT centers at Asia Pacific Institute of Management at Jasola Vihar in New Delhi, Era Business School in Dwarka and Delhi Institute of Technology Management and Research in Faridabad faced check-in delays of varying durations in the morning slot.

At Asia Pacific Institute of Management, the check-in process began precisely at 8:30 am. Despite 200 plus candidates waiting in queue, the Prometric staff spent nearly a minute scrutinising each candidate's admit card and ID proof. This resulted in an hour long wait for the candidates before they were allowed into the test centre. It was 9:55 am by the time they deposited their personal belongings and reached the biometric registration.

As a result of the delays, the final candidate entered the examination hall at 10:18 am. Some candidates faced technical snags while logging into their computers, which further delayed the test. Finally, the candidates started their test between 10:25 am and 10:35 am. After the 140-minute testing window, candidates were asked to wait till the final candidate had finished his exam. They were finally allowed to exit the centre between 1:10 and 1:25 PM, almost an hour after the test was scheduled to end.

When asked about the centers where the delays happened, Prometric India managing director Soumitra Roy said, “The Delhi Institute of Technology Management and Research in Faridabad reported some connectivity issues in the morning and candidates experienced a late start but completed testing successfully. There was no disruption to the candidates scheduled at the same venue in the afternoon session, which began on time. Check-in took a little longer than expected but everything went smoothly and all candidates completed testing.”

Prometric India, attributed the check-in delays to confusion over baggage storage due to inadequate space inside the test centres. “Security check-in gets further delayed because of such situations with certain candidates,” Roy said. He added that although students had already been given a lead time of 1.5 hours for the check-in process, minimal administrative delays did take place.

However, Prometric refused to either confirm or deny the delays reported at the other Delhi centres.

But candidates who were present at these centres had a different story to tell. Manisha Jha, a BA (Hons) final year student from Banasthali University, Jaipur had reached her centre at Asia Pacific Institute of Management as early as 7 am. “We waited in the first check-in queue for almost an hour. The people checking the identification proofs and admit cards took a very long time to complete the process,” she said. Preeti Verma, a second-year BBA student who had her centre at Era Business School in Dwarka said that her centre had also faced a delay in the check-in process.

Nirmal Sharma, who has been employed as an electrical engineer for eight years and was appearing for the test at the Jasola centre said that he had not witnessed such confusion in any system in all of his working years. Having an executive MBA from Karnataka University, he was apprehensive about the example that Prometric staff was setting for future MBAs of the country.

Admitting that snags had occurred during the first slot of the first day, Soumitra Roy assured all candidates that they will get to test within the testing window. “We have already accounted for all the necessary contingency measures. The center staff are all trained and certified and we have ensured that they are well equipped to assist candidates during the test. We have also built in excess capacity in all locations to cater for any unforeseen technical issues that cannot be resolved by the on-site technician,” he told PaGaLGuY.