The National Testing Agency (NTA) has released a 43-second tutorial video to help NEET UG 2026 applicants facing failed payment issues during the application process. The advisory was shared through NTA’s official X (formerly Twitter) account. In the video, candidates are advised not to make repeated payment attempts if the transaction appears unsuccessful. Instead, they are told to wait, log out, re-login after some time, and check the payment status using the portal’s free verification tool. The guidance aims to prevent duplicate charges and reduce panic among aspirants. NEET UG is one of India’s largest entrance exams, taken by over 20 lakh medical aspirants every year.
What the NTA advisory says
In the short explainer video, NTA outlines clear steps for candidates whose payment does not reflect immediately:
- Do not attempt another payment instantly.
- Wait for some time as banks may take time to update transaction status.
- Log out of the portal and re-login after a while.
- Use the available
payment status verification option to confirm whether the transaction was successful.
The agency has clearly mentioned that repeated attempts without status verification would lead to double payment. Refunds in such cases may take time and unnecessarily distress the candidate.The advisory is timely because the NEET UG applications generally open between January and February, with simultaneous access to the portal by lakhs of students, which causes technical delays in confirming the online payments.
High-stakes exam with massive participation
NEET UG is the gateway for admission to MBBS, BDS, AYUSH, and other undergraduate medical courses across India. The exam sees participation from more than 2 million candidates each year. Given the scale, even minor technical issues can affect thousands of applicants at once.There have been technical and evaluation-related issues with the NTA over the years. In 2024, the controversies related to grace marks and result processing in JEE Main created a lot of debate. Incidents like these increased the concentration of the public eye on the agency’s systems and transparency.
Social media reactions highlight broader concerns
While the payment advisory is intended to help students, replies to the NTA post reflect wider dissatisfaction among some aspirants. Users have raised concerns about other examinations conducted by the agency, including alleged errors in UGC NET answer keys and delays in JEE result announcements.A large number of candidates are seeking higher accountability, quicker grievance redressal methods, and better technical systems. It has over 15 exams to conduct on a national scale, positioning it among the most important testing institutions.As the NEET UG 2026 registrations process is already in place, the latest advisory seems to be intended to avoid any kind of confusion in the process. The candidates are advised to follow the guidelines carefully and prefer the information provided from verified sources only through NTA.
