The Karnataka Examinations Authority (KEA) officials had not anticipated such a situation at their headquarters in Malleswaram on Thursday.
Less than 24 hours after the results of the first round of counselling for Common Entrance Test (CET) rank holders was announced, anxious parents and students who had been allotted government or government-quota seats congregated at the Bangalore helpline centre to make sense of the e-payment of fees, which was introduced recently.
While those who are not tech-savvy went by the CET brochure given months ago and bought Demand Drafts (DDs), people who visited the KEA portal were furious that the e-payment link had not been uploaded till Thursday morning.
With the KEA ruling out extending the last date for payment of fees and reporting to the college to take the seat allotted in the first round (and even those who wish to try their luck in the second round of counselling for a better option), students and parents were at their wits’ end complaining about being left with only Friday and Saturday to make payments.
Incensed parents were seen heckling KEA officials demanding information. “Not one of them is giving us any proper information,” a parent said.
Most doubts were over online payment and the option of paying using only challans from Indian Bank. A parent from Hoskote, armed with a DD from another bank, sought to know from what she should do as there was no Indian Bank branch in her town.
There were others who were unhappy with the seats allotted to them, while several students also complained of being allotted seats under categories that they did not belong to. There were also students seeking for seats in the Indian Systems of Medicine and Homeopathy, the counselling for which will only begin in August, who were confused whether to take the engineering seat they had landed or to wait till August.
According to a press note from the KEA, 15,500 students downloaded the admission order by late Thursday evening after making e-payments (3,500 made payments through net banking, debit and credit cards; 9,000 through Indian Bank counters; 3,000 through NEFT, RTGS).
