Bengaluru, Aug. 27 -- Students and parents protested outside the Karnataka Examination Authority (KEA) office in Malleshwaram on Thursday, August 27, against the authority's decision to levy a Rs 5,000 penalty on candidates seeking to cancel seats allotted in the second round of UGCET 2026 counselling.

KEA recently announced the second-round seat allotment results for engineering and other professional undergraduate courses. According to the counselling guidelines, candidates who do not wish to retain their allotted seats and want to participate in the third round must cancel their current allotment by paying Rs 5,000.

The online seat cancellation facility opened on August 27 and will remain available until 3 pm on August 29. Candidates...