April 21: Candidates from faraway places like Bangalore, Patna, Bhagalpur and Lucknow flocked to the JEE board office in Sector V today to collect admit cards of the entrance exam which will be held on Sunday.

The students, who will write the test in Calcutta as well as the districts, said they had failed to download their admit cards online and were asked to visit the board office to collect them.

Almost all the candidates Metro spoke to said they were "inconvenienced" for being asked to visit the board office barely 48 hours before the exams.

Officials said the students could not download their admit cards for failing to upload their thumb impressions, photographs and signatures in the format stipulated by the board.

Several candidates admitted their mistake but said the board should have had an online facility for rectifying the errors.

"The entire system was online. Filling in and submitting application forms, receiving confirmation certificates of enrolment, payment of examination fees and collecting admit cards, each and every step was online. So it would have been logical for the board to run an online facility for correcting mistakes," a student from Bhagalpur said.

Aditi Singh from Patna could not download her admit card because of a discrepancy in the photograph she had uploaded while submitting her application form.

"I called the board helpline and was told to visit the board office to collect the admit card. The exam is on Sunday morning and I should be busy now with last-minute preparations, but here I am waiting for my admit card," said Singh, who arrived at the board office straight from the airport.

Dipam Choudhury from Bangalore failed to download his admit card for the same reason as Aditi.

"I have appeared in a number of all-India entrance tests in engineering, such as IIT-JEE, and also in the admission test of the Vellore Institute of Technology. The online system exists everywhere. It's only in the Bengal JEE that I am facing a problem," Dipam said.

Anmol Anand, from Darbhanga, could not download her admit card because of a discrepancy in the signature.

"I spent sleepless nights after I failed to get the admit card. I am still not sure whether I can finally write the exam," said Anmol.

Malayendu Saha, the chairman of the JEE board said, each and every candidate who was asked to visit the board office will be issued the admit card.