The West Bengal Joint Entrance Examinations Board (WBJEEB) has withdrawn a controversial rule that had prevented candidates who had already done admission through the centralised counselling process from participating in the 2026 decentralised counselling.
The decision came after the rule was criticized by students and others who raised questions about the restriction. WBJEEB has now made it clear that eligible rank-holders can take part in the decentralised counselling process, even candidates who have already taken part in the centralised counselling process and have been admitted by the centralised counselling process.
WBJEEB Reverses Earlier Restriction
The earlier notification for decentralised counselling had stated that candidates who participated in WBJEE 2026 centralised e-counselling, accepted a seat and completed their admission would not be eligible for the decentralised process.
The restriction was implemented because such candidates had already been offered opportunities in the three-phase centralised counselling process. The official notification announced on August 27 had explicitly excluded students who had completed admission from the subsequent decentralised process.
But the rule was soon a concern among students. A petition for a revision of the rule asked for students who had already secured seats to be allowed to participate in later counselling rounds, with some security measures such as dropping their current seat if they were offered an upgraded seat.
It is now that the board has reversed that decision and made the restriction an earlier decision. The revised decision means eligible candidates will not be automatically excluded from participation in decentralised counselling simply because they have already completed a previous admission.
Admitted Candidates Can Participate
The new arrangement is important for students who accepted seats during centralised counselling but still want to explore vacant seats available through the decentralised process.
WBJEEB decentralised counselling is intended to fill seats that remain vacant after the regular centralised admission process. Candidates will participate via a common online platform and will be allocated according to merit criteria and their choices.
The board’s decision could even allow students who are already admitted to a college or course to apply for a new college or course in case seats are available.
However, participation in decentralised counselling does not mean that every candidate will automatically get a new seat. Allocation will continue to be dependent on merit rank, eligibility, candidate preferences and availability of seats.
Vacant Seats Drive Decentralised Counselling
The decentralised process is taking place to fill seats that were left vacant after the centralised counselling rounds. This year counselling has been especially significant because several institutions reported a high number of unfilled engineering seats.
Jadavpur University, for example, was reported to have 378 vacant BTech seats out of 1,190 after centralised counselling. Calcutta University had 168 vacant seats out of 478. The number of vacant seats at these institutions was much higher than in previous years.
The vacancies in the seats have increased the importance of the decentralised counselling process for students who are still looking for admission opportunities.
The WBJEEB website currently lists the common online decentralised counselling process among its counselling updates. The board has also issued a corrigendum following the changes to the original notification.
Students have to wait for more counselling details.
The rollback also allows eligible WBJEE 2026 candidates to compete for vacant seats, including those who have already completed the centralised process.
The board’s new position should provide some relief to students who had criticized the earlier restriction. It also changes the options for candidates who might have accepted a seat earlier but wish to pursue a college or course elsewhere.
Candidates will still need to follow these new eligibility and counselling criteria and the counselling process announced by WBJEEB. They should also check the official WBJEEB portal for the latest schedule as well as the registration details, vacant seat information and instructions before any action is taken.
The reversal comes as the board is preparing to fill the rest of the engineering and other eligible seats through decentralised counselling. With the restriction on already admitted candidates withdrawn, a wider number of WBJEE rank-holders will now have an opportunity to participate in the process.
