CBSE to charge Rs. 2 per page for answer sheet copies

NEW DELHI, NOVEMBER 1: Central Board of Examination (CBSE) will now be charging just Rs.2 per page for copies of answer sheets. The new charges are mandated under the Right To Information (RTI) Act of 2005. The board will charge an additional Rs.10 from students of both classes 10 and 12 as the cost of application.

The Supreme Court bench comprising Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi, Justices SK Kaul and KM Joseph disposed a contempt plea against CBSE for charging high fee for copies of answer sheets. The apex court's decision came after Maninder Singh, who represents CBSE, told the court that the CBSE would do as per the mandate of the court.

Earlier, the board had charged students as much as Rs.1000 for class 10 and Rs.1200 for class 12 for the copies of their answer sheets. In the contempt plea filed by the Whistle for Public Interest (WHIP), the board was accused of charging exorbitant amounts from students, which was in violation of the RTI Act 2005. The plea also alleged that the CBSE was disobeying orders given by the Supreme Court in 2016, which specifically, said that students had the fundamental and legal right to access their answer sheets under the RTI Act.

In the new form students seeking copies of their answer sheets have to submit their self-attested admit card for identity verification along with RS.10 through IPO or Demand Draft. Candidates should also fill the form with their name, Parents' name, Roll Number, Name of School and the subjects for which they want their answer sheets.