Jamshedpur: The state higher and technical education department's ambition to digitise college admissions has been frustrated by a payment gateway glitch on the newly launched Chancellor Portal.

Students who cleared their intermediate science and commerce this year are complaining that they have been unable to submit admission forms online because the portal is not redirecting them to a payment gateway where they are supposed to pay Rs 100 for the prospectus and the form. Instead, they are taking prints of the uploaded form and submitting their applications offline at college counters.

The problem though is restricted to a few institutions like Kolhan University, headquartered in Chaibasa, and Nilamber Pitamber University in Medininagar, Palamau. They seem to have failed to connect with the respective payment gateways.

The links of Ranchi University and Dr Shyama Prasad Mukherjee University (Ranchi) are said to be working fine while Sido Kanhu Murmu University in Dumka is said to have joined the payment gateway on Wednesday.

The admissions began after the intermediate results were declared on June 7.

Rajesh Mahto, seeking admission in BCom at Jamshedpur Workers' College, explained the dilemma. "I registered on the portal to generate my login ID and password. I chose my preferred college, followed by the subject. But, there was no link to pay the money. All I have now is a confirmation mail that says I have registered with the portal," he said.

Proctor of Kolhan University A.K. Jha conceded the glitch and promised it would be taken care of "in a couple of days".

"We know about the problem. We tied up with the bank concerned three days ago. All details have been sent to the National Informatics Centre (NIC) for update," Jha said and added, "Till then all 19 constituent colleges have been asked to upload a printable format of the admission form so that students can download the same and submit at college counters.

At Nilamber Pitamber University, officials cited "delay at NIC-end" despite having sent bank details for the online payment process two days ago. The varsity is also yet to upload a printable format of its admission form.

"The portal is new. Hiccups are expected. Students have been asked to fill up the admission form and keep it saved in their inbox until the payment gateway problem is resolved in a few days," said VC Satyendra Narayan Singh.