'Our data's on sale for Rs 3,599'- NEET PG 2025 students allege massive privacy breach

New Delhi: Even as the National Board of Examinations in Medical Sciences (NBEMS) remains engaged in the ongoing Supreme Court proceedings concerning the NEET PG 2025 transparency plea, it is now facing fresh concerns after several aspirants alleged that their personal data may have been leaked.

Some of the candidates have claimed that they are receiving calls and messages from admission counsellors offering secure MD or MS seats for sale.

Taking to social media platforms like X, students have started to question how private entities obtained their data to solicit admissions beyond the regular admission process and centralised counselling, conducted by the Medical Counselling Committee (MCC) and the NBEMS.

Commenting on the matter, a student, who appeared in the NEET PG exam this year, told the Indian Express on the condition of anonymity, "I have received calls from NEET PG counsellors for the past few days. How did they get my phone number? Many websites are selling the NEET PG 2025 student database, which is a complete breach of privacy. NBE and other stakeholders should take strict action against those who have leaked this data."

"Just came across someone on a Telegram channel who is selling all the data of NEET PG 2025 students at a 15k rate. For the sake of getting more information, I messaged saying that I am working in a consultancy firm for PG counselling. I asked him for more details and said I was ready to offer a job. I gave him my own rank to cross-verify information. Turns out he has legitimate information. All the information he had was accurate. He had my name, my father’s name, email ID, phone number, state and whatnot," another student posted on Reddit.

Some of the NEET PG 2025 aspirants informed the Daily that various details, available only to candidates and the examination body, such as candidate name, father's name, phone number, email address, NEET PG scores, state, and city, are now available in public.

NEET PG 2025 Students' Database Sold Online for Rs 3,000 to Rs 8,500?

The Indian Express has reported that a simple web search using terms related to NEET PG and student data showed multiple listings of 'NEET PG 2025 Student Database' packaged as online goods, and the prices for the same ranged between Rs 3,000 to Rs 8,500. In fact, some of the documents were easily accessible with a mere download of the sample data.

One such sample data showed the names of 201 students along with their phone numbers, PG roll numbers, city, state, father's name, and email IDs. The data also included scores and ranks of each of the students. While this was only a sample, the full document is being sold at Rs 3,599. When the Daily contacted the students who names and phone numbers were on the sample data set, they confirmed appearing in the NEET PG 2025 exam. However, they were not aware of the alleged data leak.

Sharing the photo of the concerned database, available for sell, the X handle of Indian Doctor wrote, "OUTRAGEOUS! #NEET PG students’ Personal data ,application IDs, emails, phone numbers, roll numbers — is being sold online like a commodity in just 3599/- What kind of shameless system is this? NMC and its IT partners have FAILED miserably in protecting students’ privacy. This isn’t just negligence — it’s a criminal betrayal of trust. Shame on @NMC_BHARAT. Shame on the entire rotten system.#medtwitter #NEETPG."

Response from NBEMS:

Meanwhile, NBEMS has denied its link to the entire issue. A Senior NBEMS official told The Indian Express, on the condition of anonymity, that the role of NBEMS is limited only to conducting the NEET PG exam and declaring the result.

"For the conduct of counselling, NBEMS shares the result data, which includes all of the above fields, as can be seen in this leaked data, with the medical counselling committee of DGHS for the conduct of counselling for the All India quota 50 per cent seats. NBEMS also shares the result data with all states through MCC for state quota counselling seats," said the officer. Further, the officer added that the data is shared in password-protected pen drives and the password is shared separately in a sealed envelope with the MCC.

Claiming that the "data might have leaked at any level" beyond NBEMS, the officer added, "The data might have leaked at any of these levels beyond NBEMS as NBEMS maintains strict confidentiality and protocols for data security and sanctity."

Also Read: NEET PG 2025 counselling delay: MCC waits on SC, aspirants urge Govt action