The Union Government has announced that the Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Act, 2024 will come into effect starting June 21.
Although the Act was passed by Parliament on February 9, 2024, and received the President’s assent on February 12, 2024, it had not been implemented because the Government had not issued a notification. Yesterday, the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions released a notification stating, “In exercise of the powers conferred by sub-section (2) of Section 1 of the Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Act, 2024 (1 of 2024), the Central Government hereby appoints the 21st day of June, 2024 as the date on which the provisions of the said Act shall come into force.”
The Act stipulates punishments for offenses such as “leakage of question paper or answer key,” “unauthorized assistance to a candidate in any manner during the public examination,” and “tampering with computer networks, resources, or systems.” Institutions involved in such activities will also face penalties.
It’s important to note that this notification comes amidst numerous complaints about paper leaks in the NEET-UG 2024 exam. The recently conducted UGC-NET exam was also canceled due to a paper leak. However, the Act will not apply retrospectively to events before June 21.
The Act defines “unfair means” as:
- unauthorized access to or leakage of question papers or answer keys,
- assisting a candidate during a public examination,
- tampering with computer networks or resources,
- tampering with documents used for shortlisting or finalizing merit lists or ranks, and
- conducting fake examinations or issuing fake admit cards or offer letters to defraud for monetary gain.
Anyone resorting to unfair means under the Act shall be punished with imprisonment for a term of not less than three years, which may extend to five years, and a fine of up to ₹10 lakh.
A service provider engaged by the public examination authority to conduct examinations shall also be liable for a fine of up to ₹1 crore, and the proportionate cost of the examination will also be recovered from it.
The Act defines a “service provider” as any agency, organization, body, association of persons, business entity, company, partnership, or sole proprietorship firm, including its associates, subcontractors, and providers of support for any computer resource or material, which is engaged by the public examination authority to conduct public examinations.
