Education minister Pradhan meets bank officials to talk overhaul of CBSE's payment gateway system

New Delhi: Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Tuesday held a meeting with senior officials of four major public sector banks, including the State Bank of India (SBI), Bank of Baroda, Canara Bank, and Indian Bank to discuss the overhaul of the Central Board of Secondary Education’s (CBSE) Payment Gateway System.

A release by the ministry of education stated that during the meeting, Pradhan emphasised on the need for a “robust, reliable, and student-friendly” payment ecosystem, especially for post-examination services such as re-evaluation, obtaining photocopies of answer sheets, and other fee-based processes.

“He directed the banks to assist CBSE in establishing robust payment protocols to ensure timely transactions, immediate resolution of payment-related issues, and automatic refunds for excess or failed payments. The banks have been asked to work closely with CBSE to strengthen the payment gateway infrastructure through advanced technical safeguards, real-time monitoring, and faster grievance redressal mechanisms,” a release by the ministry said.

Pradhan urged the senior officials to give the highest priority to this initiative to ensure that students do not face technical glitches or payment failures in the future. He asked the banks to ensure smooth, secure, and efficient digital transactions.

The four banks assured full support and committed to implementing enhanced protocols and technical upgrades at the earliest, in coordination with CBSE, the release said.

Earlier this week, Pradhan had roped in the four PSUs as well as two IITs including IIT Madras and IIT Kanpur to smoothen any glitches in the reevaluation method, after several complaints in the onscreen marking system (OMS) emerged. IIT Madras’s Prof V Kamakoti said the institute’s team is carrying out a diagnosis of the reevaluation site.

Several students have come forward to complain about mismatched answer sheets and wrong marking system. The OMS system has been rolled out for the first time countrywide for class 12.