JEE Main 2026 exam city option not removed: NTA dismisses viral claim

The National Testing Agency (NTA) has clarified that its latest advisory regarding updating Aadhaar and UDID cards is not related to city allotment for JEE Mains 2026 “in any manner”. The clarification comes after multiple media reports claimed that candidates will not be given the option to select the exam city for JEE, NEET, and CUET 2026 entrance exams.

Careers360 recently did a fact-check regarding the viral claim on JEE Main exam city allocation and clarified that the speculation stemmed from the recommendation made by the high-level expert committee set up by the ministry of education as per the Supreme Court direction. There was no explicit mention of removal of exam city selection on the NTA’s official notification.

However, several media publications misreported the advisory stating that candidates would not be given the option to select exam centres. Instead, the test city allocation would be done based on the permanent address in their Aadhaar card. The omission of this facility caused confusion among candidates who have faced inconvenience in the past due to far-off exam centres.

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NTA clears confusion

In the latest update, the NTA said that some candidates had faced problems while filling the online application form due to mismatches in details provided in their Aadhaar card, Class 10 certificate, and other supporting documents.

“To facilitate the candidates, NTA had issued a Public Notice on 29 September 2025 advising students to update and verify their key identity documents like Aadhaar, UDID cards, and category certificates well in advance, before the Applications are opened. The Public Notice is not related to City/Centre Allotment in any manner,” the NTA clarified.

The NTA will be conducting the JEE Main 2026 in two sessions – January and April. The exam dates will be announced soon on the official website, jeemain.nta.nic.in, along with the registration window.