American firm Prometric, which is conducting the Common Admission Test (CAT), will get Rs. 870 per candidate from the CAT committee after adjusting the expenses incurred on test development and other related things, the Lok Sabha was informed today.
The 11-day-long computer-based CAT, which ended yesterday, was disrupted by virus attack and other technical glitches from the beginning. The technical problem led to rescheduling the examination of over 20,000 candidates who could not appear in the test on the scheduled dates.
However, no payment has been made to the firm so far, Minister of State for HRD D. Purandeswari, said in a written reply.
The infrastructure in the 361 labs, where the test was conducted, was managed by National Institute of Information Technology (NIIT).
The traditional format of conducting CAT in paper-pencil format was becoming untenable as it was putting severe strain on the faculty, staff and the infrastructure of the IIMs, she said.
Maintaining security, carrying out logistics and coordination with test centres was challenging for the IIMs, she said.
The computerised test would cost less than the paper-based exam on the long run, she said.
