Coempt rejects allegations in CBSE OSM controversy, offers records for scrutiny

Coempt Eduteck, the edtech company at the centre of CBSE’s On-Screen Marking (OSM) controversy, came out with a clarification on Thursday, stating that the scanners used by it were standard, industry-grade models utilised across the sector and also added that upgradations are done every year to ensure high-resolution scanning.

It also stated that its records were open for examination and scrutiny by the government bodies. “The scanners used by Coempt are standard, industry-grade models utilised across the sector. We upgrade our hardware year-on-year, and the scanning resolution is perfect,” the company added.

The Hyderabad-based firm denied allegations that tender conditions were altered to accommodate substandard hardware.

Clarifying on the issue of blurred images, as pointed out by a student leading to national controversy, it said that the cases are being systematically reviewed in coordination with relevant evaluation authorities.

Referring to the particular incident, where a CBSE student received another candidate's answer sheet, the edtech company clarified that the matter pertained to the physical scanning process rather than a software glitch, thereby hinting that the preliminary findings pointed to manual oversight.

“We have identified the location and the individual who conducted the scanning. We have verified 100 per cent that, technologically, there is no error in this case,” the company stated.

The company also states that despite isolated bottlenecks, answer sheets have already been successfully delivered to nearly 95 per cent of the students who applied for access.

Pertaining to the incident of a 19-year-old ethical hacker breaching the security protocol of the Coempt platform, it said that he managed to hack the server that was used for testing, which is never used for any client.

“It’s used for internal purposes, with dummy tests and has public access,” it said.

Coempt also asserted that its operational systems remain entirely secure, and no student data or technical infrastructure was compromised.

Coempt, the OSM service provider, came under fire after alleged irregularities and vulnerabilities were found in the system for evaluating Class 12 answer sheets.

Notably, the firm currently serves more than 35 universities and institutions across the country, processes nearly two crore answer booklets annually through services like digitisation, on-screen marking, AI-assisted evaluation and question-paper management.

“Except for the headline, no changes have been made to the story, as it has been sourced from IANS.”