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Counselling season brings a lot of strangers who suddenly want to help. Some call with seat guarantees, some offer to "fill choices properly" for a fee, and nearly all of them want the same thing first: your login ID, password and the OTP that lands on your phone. Once you hand those over, someone else controls the account that decides your seat.
Why do counselling portals say never share your password?
Because the portal treats whoever logs in as you. The JoSAA 2026 sign-in page states that confidentiality of the password is solely the responsibility of the candidate, and that NIC/JoSAA does not request login details by email. The same page says the OTP sent for actions such as resetting a password must not be shared with anyone, and tells candidates to change their password at frequent intervals.
The Medical Counselling Committee goes further. In its Candidate User Guide for NEET UG Counselling 2026, the declaration you accept at registration says you will not disclose or share the password with anybody, and that neither MCC nor NIC is responsible for misuse of your password. Another line reads: do not share your password/OTP with anyone by any means.
This matters because the important actions run on those two keys. In the MCC guide, locking your choices asks for your password and then an OTP sent to your registered mobile number or email, and once choices are locked they cannot be changed. Anyone holding both can lock a list you never saw.
A Press Information Bureau backgrounder from October 2025 reports that cybersecurity incidents in India rose from 10.29 lakh in 2022 to 22.68 lakh in 2024. It also says phishing, where people are lured into revealing sensitive information through deceptive emails or messages, is on the rise.
What should you say when an agent asks for your login?
You do not need to argue. A short, fixed answer is easier to say on the phone than a debate:
"Thank you, but we fill and lock choices ourselves. We don't share the password or OTP with anyone."
If they push: "The counselling body tells candidates not to share login details, so we won't. Please send any advice in writing."
If they claim to be from the portal: "The portal says it does not ask for login details by email, and tells us never to share the password. I'll check the official website myself."
Then hang up. Never read out an OTP to "verify" anything, even if the caller knows your name and rank. Our guide on how to spot fake admission agents and verify a seat offer covers the warning signs in more detail.
If a trusted adult helps, sit together at one screen and type the password yourself.
Which confirmations should you save after every round?
Save proof of every step. The MCC guide shows that the Print Locked Choice(s) page lists your locking status, IP address, date and time, a code and the round number, with a button to download the locked choices letter. The dashboard also has Login Trail and Last Activity Details buttons. Here is a simple routine:
After registration and fee payment, save the confirmation page and payment details.
Before locking, print your list of filled choices and check it line by line.
After locking, download the locked choices letter.
After allotment, download the provisional allotment letter and any other system-generated letters.
Each time you log in, glance at the login trail or last activity details. A login you don't recognise is your cue to change the password at once.
Keep everything in one folder named by round, plus a copy off your phone.
MCC's password policy asks for 8 to 13 characters with at least one uppercase letter, one lowercase letter, one number and one special character, per the same user guide. For juggling several exam portals, see how students should manage passwords for exam portals.
What should you do if someone already has your password?
Log in and change your password straight away.
Check your login trail and your filled or locked choices, and screenshot anything that looks wrong.
Contact the counselling body through the helpline or query system on its official website, and keep your complaint number.
If money was taken or you were cheated online, call the national cyber crime helpline, 1930, which the PIB backgrounder describes as offering immediate cybersecurity assistance, or report on the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal.
Our explainer on how to raise a complaint in the admission counselling process walks through the grievance route step by step.
Once your seat is settled, if you are not sure where to restart your studies, Fermi's AI tutor can work out what you already know and build a plan for the session, so you sit down to a clear next step.
