NTA has opened a fee-refund portal at neet.nta.nic.in after cancelling the 3 May 2026 NEET UG exam. Refund amounts vary by category (General ₹1,700, OBC/EWS ₹1,600, SC/ST/PwD ₹1,000, NRI ₹9,500), are processed online to the original payment mode, and the 21 June 2026 re-exam itself is free. This guide explains the portal steps, who gets what, and how the refund interacts with the re-exam.
By Hiteshi Thakur, Tech & Medical Recruitment Editor. Published 22 May 2026. Last verified 22 May 2026 against the latest NTA notice on the NEET UG 2026 fee-refund window and re-examination schedule.
TL;DR
- NTA has opened a fee-refund portal for NEET UG 2026 at
neet.nta.nic.infollowing the cancellation of the 3 May 2026 exam.- Category-wise refund amounts: General ₹1,700, OBC/EWS ₹1,600, SC/ST/PwD/Third Gender ₹1,000, NRI ₹9,500.
- The refund is online and automatic — it returns to the original payment mode used during application; candidates upload bank-account details on the portal where required.
- The re-exam is free — candidates appearing on 21 June 2026 do not pay any additional fee.
- Limited correction allowed — current address and 1st/2nd exam-city preferences; no fee for those edits.
The cancellation of NEET UG 2026 left around 22 lakh aspirants with a single practical question: what happens to the application fee they already paid? NTA's answer is a structured refund window at the official NEET portal, alongside a free re-examination on 21 June 2026. This guide explains the refund amounts, the portal steps, and what candidates need to check today. For the broader context, read our NEET UG 2026 re-exam explainer; for the live status, see the NEET UG 2026 page and the Medical Jobs hub.
What NTA has announced
Refund amounts vary by the category a candidate applied under, mirroring the original NEET UG fee slabs:
| Category | Refund amount |
|---|---|
| General | ₹1,700 |
| OBC / EWS | ₹1,600 |
| SC / ST / PwD / Third Gender | ₹1,000 |
| NRI (Indian + foreign nationals applying as NRI) | ₹9,500 |
The amounts above are what NTA has publicly indicated in its post-cancellation notice. Always cross-check the exact figure against your application receipt and the live notice on neet.nta.nic.in before you act — categories and slabs occasionally see small revisions between cycles.
How the refund process works
The mechanics are deliberately simple and largely automatic:
- Log in at
neet.nta.nic.inwith your NEET UG 2026 application number and password (the same credentials you used at registration). - Open the Fee Refund section.
- If prompted, upload or confirm your bank-account details — account number, IFSC, account holder name. Many candidates will find this auto-populated from their original payment method.
- Submit the request.
The refund itself is then routed back to the original payment mode used during application — debit card, credit card, net banking, UPI, or wallet — without you having to choose. There is no fee for the refund process itself, and no need to upload supporting documents unless NTA's portal specifically asks for them.
Refund vs. re-exam — how they interact
This is the part most candidates are confused about, so it's worth stating clearly:
- The 21 June 2026 re-exam is free. Candidates appearing for the re-test do not pay any new application fee. Your existing application carries over; you only need to download the fresh admit card when NTA releases it.
- The refund window is separate. Treat any refund credit as NTA's response to the disruption rather than a substitute for re-appearing.
- Exact eligibility scope — including whether the refund applies to every applicant or only to specific candidate groups — is governed by NTA's official notice. If a category-specific clause applies, it will be on the portal and in the press release.
When in doubt, the safest action is to read the official NTA notice in full before clicking submit on the refund page, and to keep a screenshot of your refund acknowledgement.
Correction window and city changes
Alongside the refund window, NTA opened a limited correction facility for the re-examination, at no additional fee:
- Current address — useful if your communication address has changed.
- First and second preferred examination city — useful if your earlier city is now inconvenient for the 21 June re-exam.
Other fields — name, photograph, signature, category, subjects — are not editable in this window. Make the city and address edits early; closer to the re-exam date, slot allocation becomes the binding constraint.
A short context on why this is happening
NTA scrapped the 3 May 2026 NEET UG exam after a paper-leak controversy, including a "guess paper" that reportedly matched several actual questions. A CBI probe is underway and the Supreme Court is hearing petitions seeking structural reform of the NTA. The refund window and the free re-exam together are NTA's administrative response while the legal and investigative process runs in parallel. Treat 21 June 2026 as the working re-exam date but watch the official portal for any change driven by court proceedings.
For the deeper background, read our NEET UG 2026 paper-leak explainer.
NEET UG 2026 शुल्क रिफंड: हिंदी सारांश
NEET UG 2026 की 3 मई की परीक्षा रद्द होने के बाद NTA ने neet.nta.nic.in पर शुल्क रिफंड पोर्टल शुरू कर दिया है। श्रेणी के अनुसार रिफंड राशि — जनरल ₹1,700, OBC/EWS ₹1,600, SC/ST/PwD/थर्ड जेंडर ₹1,000, NRI ₹9,500। प्रक्रिया ऑनलाइन और स्वचालित है — पैसा उसी payment mode में वापस आता है जिससे आपने आवेदन शुल्क भरा था; ज़रूरत पड़ने पर पोर्टल पर बैंक खाते की जानकारी भरें। 21 जून 2026 की री-एग्ज़ाम मुफ्त है — कोई अतिरिक्त शुल्क नहीं। साथ ही वर्तमान पता और 1st/2nd परीक्षा शहर बदलने की अनुमति है, बिना अतिरिक्त शुल्क के। पूरी जानकारी आधिकारिक NTA नोटिस में देखें; प्रामाणिक अपडेट के लिए NEET UG 2026 re-exam explainer पढ़ें।
FAQs
When can I claim the NEET UG 2026 exam fee refund? / NEET UG 2026 fee refund kab milega?
neet.nta.nic.in. Log in with your application credentials, open the Fee Refund section, and submit the request. The exact close date is announced by NTA on the portal and in its public notice, so do not delay — log in as soon as you have your application number ready.How do I apply for the NEET UG 2026 fee refund? / refund kaise kare?
neet.nta.nic.in with your application number and password, open the Fee Refund section, confirm or upload your bank-account details (account number, IFSC, account holder name), and submit. The refund is then routed automatically to the original payment mode used at application, without further uploads.