A Nagpur-based NEET aspirant who was allotted an examination centre in Abu Dhabi for the NEET-UG-2026 re-test has now been assigned a centre in the city after the National Testing Agency (NTA) intervened.

The issue came out just one day before the June 21 re-exam, when Abdullah Mohammad Talib and his family found out that his admit card mentioned a school in Abu Dhabi as his examination centre. The family claimed that they selected centres only in Maharashtra.

Responding to the matter on Saturday, NTA Director General Abhishek Singh told ANI that the issue has been resolved. “The issue has been resolved, and the candidate has now been allotted a centre in Nagpur,” Singh said.

The NTA also posted on X that “the grievance is being addressed and the candidate will be allocated a centre in Nagpur, after due verification, in the next few hours”.

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In a fresh tweet, NTA said that web-activity records indicated that the city change in this case was made through the candidate’s own registered login during the open correction window, with a consistent single-user access pattern.

It also said that despite the Abu Dhabi centre being chosen by the candidate, the NTA received an informal request on the evening of June 19 to change the centre to Nagpur. “NTA personnel immediately initiated the change and contacted the candidate’s father on 19th evening itself to help them complete the formal process,” it said.

NTA also observed that on 3 occasions, one – the centre was changed to Abu Dhabi using candidate’s credentials and twice it was previewed that the centre is Abu Dhabi. Despite that NTA has accorded to aspirant’s request and the change of centre was actioned.”

‘We were shocked’: Family says overseas centre was never selected

According to the student’s father, Mohammad Talib, the family was stunned when the admit card listed an examination centre in Abu Dhabi. “We were shocked because we never selected an overseas centre,” he told ANI.

Talib further said that the family contacted the NTA helpline immediately and was asked to submit a complaint by email. According to him, officials later informed them that a revised admit card would be issued after verification.

The family said the student had selected Nagpur as his first preference, followed by Wardha and Bhandar, while choosing the examination centre.

“The biggest issue is that we don’t even have a passport. Even if we had one, it would not have been possible to reach Abu Dhabi at such short notice,” Talib said.

Student left distressed ahead of NEET-re exam

The unexpected centre allotment left the student distressed just days before the examination, according to his father. “My son is deeply disturbed by this. He cried a lot and did not even want to appear for the examination,” Talib said.

The family mentioned that the candidate had been preparaing for the re-test examination since the original NEET-UG test was cancelled and rescheduled after the paper leak controversy.

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As per ANI, the student had earlier been given Saraswati Vidyalaya as centre in Nagpur for the original May 3 NEET examination.

‘NTA testing patience of children and parents’: Rahul Gandhi

This issue also drew attention from Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, who questioned the examination system over the incident.

In a post on X, Gandhi said a student from Nagpur who had been preparing for the re-exam for weeks was shocked to find that his centre had been allotted in Abu Dhabi despite not having a passport or the means to travel abroad at such short notice.

He also claimed that the NTA was “testing the patience of the country’s children and their parents”. The Congress leader further added that students deserved a more accountable and sensitive examination system.

The controversy comes a day before the NEET-UG 2026 re-examination, which is slated to be conducted on June 21 under enhanced security arrangements. More than 22 lakh candidates are expected to appear for the test across India and abroad.