The CAT 2009 website has published today “Disclaimers Regarding Conduct of CAT” which prohibits information sharing between the test takers. The information mentions that the test takers will have to agree to the Non-Disclosure Agreement at the time of the test. The disclaimer mentions:

“Disclosing, publishing, reproducing, transmitting, storing, or facilitating transmission and storage of the contents of the CAT or any information therein in whole or part thereof in any form or by any means, verbal or written, electronically or mechanically for any purpose, shall be in violation of the Indian Contract Act, 1872 and/or the Copyright Act, 1957 and/or the Information Technology Act, 2000. Such actions and/or abetment thereof as aforementioned may constitute a cognizable offence punishable with imprisonment for a term up to three years and fine up to Rs. 2 lakhs. The candidates taking CAT 2009 will have to agree to the Non-Disclosure Agreement at the time of the test.”

To gauge the impact of this stern warning from the CAT organizers MBAUniverse.com talked with leading CAT experts of India. We put forward two questions to the experts: Firstly, What will be the impact of such stern warning on the test takers? and Secondly, Has this step been taken to maintain an equilibrium in the risk factor for all the test takers, for all the 10 days?

Sai Kumar Swamy, Course Director of T.I.M.E., one of the leading MBA coaching institutes feels that this disclaimer is absolutely fine. “IIMs are going for such a model for the first time. They had to do it for the safety’s sake and it is just the right thing to do,” says Swamy.

Gautam Puri, Vice Chairman of Career Launcher had similar views. “This is not something to be worried about. IIMs would definitely not want the questions to be leaked,” Puri says.

According to Manish Saraf, COO, PT Education, this kind of disclaimer is superficial and not much thought has been given about it. “It is a kind of enforcement on the CAT 2009 takers. If the students are not able to share their experiences, there will be anxiety and frustration among the student community,” Saraf feels.

Advantage for late test takers?
Some of the experts say that this disclaimer will obviously lead to the maintenance of equilibrium for all test takers, although it will impact those test takers who had opted for taking the test after December 2, thinking that they would be at lower risk with more information available to them.

According to Swamy, if this disclaimer is strictly followed then all the candidates, no matter which day they are taking the test will all be in the similar situation. “There will be no advantage. It’s going to be the same for all,” he says. 

Like Swamy, Puri also doesn’t feel that late exam takers will be in an advantageous position. “A test taker can take CAT 2009 only once. Until they have any prior experience; there will be no advantage in taking the test in the latter slot. It will be all the same for candidates no matter if they take it early or later,” was what Puri had to say.

Saraf feels that there will be no clear cut facility for any one, but those who are taking the test in the last few days will have some advantages in terms of test taking. “Though the students won’t have the advantage over the questions but they would definitely know the test taking methods better. They will know how to use the mouse, how to mark and unmark questions etc. So in some way, the candidates who are going to take the test from December 5 to December 7 will be in a better position,” says Saraf.