Tech trouble was back to bite examinees on Day 2 of Common Admission Test (CAT) with around 90 IIM aspirants being turned away from some labs in three test centres and several others waiting for hours to write the vital exam.

At last count, 78 examinees at the Heritage Institute of Technology (HIT), 12 at the Future Institute of Engineering and Management and a few at NSHM could not appear for CAT on Sunday, which saw 10,000 examinees showing up.

On Saturday, Day One of the 10-day test window, 85 students in Calcutta could not take the entrance examination that went online with the IIM authorities outsourcing it to US-based testing service provider Prometric.

Thirty-five examinees were turned away from one of the labs at HIT, off the EM Bypass, which was supposed to accommodate 40 students in the morning session. Only five out 48 students could take their tests in the same lab in the second session.

“I had prepared myself mentally for today but I couldn’t give the test for no fault of mine,” said engineering student Ankur Banerjee, after his test at HIT scheduled for 3.30pm was cancelled.

“Semester exams in college start on December 8. If the tests are rescheduled after December 7, what will I do?” he wondered.

Though Prometric officials claimed that the testing process would be complete by December 7, not everyone is convinced. “Over 3,000 students across the country couldn’t take the test in the first two days when the rush was comparatively low. If the glitches continue, I don’t see how they can stick to the December 7 deadline,” said Naveen Saraff of Career Launcher, a coaching centre.

Among those who did finish the test on Sunday, a long wait to log in and screens going blank were common complaints. “The screen went blank midway through the test. Now, I don’t even know whether it will be considered a test taken or be rescheduled,” said an examinee.

Some examinees at Future Institute in Sonarpur complained that when they entered the lab to take their test in the second session, the examinees of the first session were still at it.

“I entered the lab at 1.30pm and I was told at 5.30pm that I could not take the test today,” said Arjun Chakrabarti, an engineering student of Jadavpur University.

Several students blamed the authorities for not informing them about the cancellations in advance.

“The CAT website had published a list of 50 labs across 24 centres in the country where the tests were cancelled, but how were we to know that?” asked Rakesh Ranjan, a student of Haldia Institute of Technology.