CSAB (Special) Info-Process
What is CSAB?
The Central Seat Allocation Board (CSAB) was constituted by the Ministry of Education (Erstwhile Ministry of Human Resource Development) in 2013 to replace the Central Counselling Board (CCB). The CSAB is responsible for centralized counselling of all Engineering/Technology and Architecture/Planning undergraduate seats in NITs/ IIEST/ IIITs/ SPAs/ and a few other Technical Institutes funded fully or partially by the Central or State Government (Other-GFTIs), together called the NIT+ System based on JEE Main Rank. At the end of JoSAA Rounds, vacant seats of the NIT+ system, if any, are filled through two additional CSAB-Special Rounds through its website.
CSAB Special Round of Counselling
Two Special Rounds of seat allocation are organized by the Central Seat Allocation Board (CSAB) to allocate the unfilled seats of the NIT+ System after the 6th JoSAA Round. The CSAB-Special Rounds will be conducted by NIT Rourkela through the online portal of CSAB. The details of vacant seats in various Participating Institutes will be available after the end of the JoSAA-2024 Rounds and just before the start of Registration for CSAB-Special Rounds. Candidates desirous of participating in the CSAB-Special Rounds are required to do a fresh registration. The process of Registration, Choice Filling, Choice Locking, Seat Allotment, Payment of fees, etc., are different from those of JoSAA rounds
Eligibility Criteria and Enrolment Fee:
Performance in Class XII (Or Equivalent) Examination
The Candidates must satisfy at least one of the following two criteria in the year of first appearance in the Class XII (or equivalent examination) in the year 2022, 2023 or 2024:
- Must have secured at least 75% aggregate marks in the Class XII (or equivalent) Board examination. The aggregate marks for SC, ST and PwD candidates should be at least 65%.
- The aggregate marks scored by the candidate in the 2024 Class XII (or equivalent) Board examination will be considered for candidates who will appear in the Class XII examination in 2024.
- The aggregate marks scored by the candidate in the 2023 Class XII (or equivalent) Board examination will be considered provided the candidate does not reappear in the Class XII (or equivalent) examination in 2024 in any of the subjects. Similarly, the aggregate marks scored by the candidate in the 2022 Class XII (or equivalent) Board examination will be considered provided the candidate does not reappear in the Class XII (or equivalent) examination in 2023 or 2024 in any of the subjects.
- If a candidate had appeared in his/her Class XII (or equivalent) in 2022 and wishes to improve his/her aggregate marks to meet the “aggregate marks of 75% (or 65% for SC, ST and PwD) criterion”, he/she can reappear for any number of subjects he/she wishes for improvement. The percentage marks in this situation will be calculated by considering the marks obtained in 2022 or 2023, whichever is higher, in the respective subjects, in his/her two attempts in 2022 and 2023.
- If a candidate had appeared in his/her Class XII (or equivalent) in 2021 and appeared in improvement examination to improve his/her aggregate marks to meet the “aggregate marks of 75% (or 65% for SC, ST and PwD) criterion”, he/she can reappear for any number of subjects he/she wishes for improvement. The percentage marks in this situation will be calculated by considering the marks obtained in 2021 or 2022, whichever is higher, in the respective subjects, in his/her two attempts in 2021 and 2022.
- The above will also apply correspondingly to those candidates who first appeared for their Class XII examination in 2020 but the examination Board of Class XII (or equivalent) declared the results for the academic year 2019-20 on or after October 05, 2020.
- Must be within the category-wise top 20 percentile of successful candidates in their respective Class XII (or equivalent) board examination.
- The percentile calculation will be done for all the required subjects, in a single academic year only. Therefore, candidates appearing for improvement in Board examinations can either appear in one or more subjects and secure 75% aggregate marks (65% for SC, ST and PwD) after improvement, OR, appear for improvement in ALL subjects to be in top 20 percentile.
- The marks scored in the following five subjects will be considered for calculating the aggregate marks and the cut-off marks for fulfilling the top 20 percentile criterion.
- For calculation of the total marks for five subjects, if the marks awarded in a subject is NOT out of 100, then the marks will be scaled (up or down) to 100 so that the total aggregate marks out of 500.
- If a Board awards only letter grades without providing an equivalent percentage of marks on the grade sheet, the candidate should obtain a certificate from the Board specifying the equivalent marks and submit it at the time of acceptance of the allocated seat. In case such a certificate is not provided, the decision taken by the CSAB 2024 will be final.
- For Candidates who appeared in the Class XII (or equivalent) Board examination for the first time in 2022 and reappeared in ALL subjects (for whatsoever reason) in 2023 or 2024, the best of the three performances will be considered. Similarly, for candidates who appeared in the Class XII (or equivalent) Board examination for the first time in 2022 and reappeared in ALL subjects (for whatsoever reason) in 2024, the best of the two performances will be considered.
- If a Board gives aggregate marks considering both Class XI and Class XII examinations (in the 10+2 system), then only Class XII marks will be considered. If a Board gives aggregate marks considering the results of all three years of a 3-year diploma or courses of equivalent duration, then the marks scored only in the final year will be considered. Similarly, for Boards which follow a semester system, the marks scored in the final two semesters will be considered.
- In case any of the subjects (e.g., Physics, Chemistry, Mathematics or Language) are not evaluated in the final year (e.g., in a 3-year diploma course), then the marks for the same subject from the previous year/s will be used for calculating percentage of aggregate marks.
- If a Board does not give marks scored in individual subjects but gives only the aggregate marks, then the aggregate marks given by the Board will be considered as such.
- This will also apply correspondingly to those candidates who first appeared for their Class XII examination in 2020 but the examination Board of Class XII (or equivalent) declared the results for the academic year 2019-20 on or after October 05, 2020.
The details of specific Types of eligible candidates and Enrolment fee are mentioned below:
✤Type-2: Candidates who have participated in JoSAA 2024 but have not been allotted any seat. Special Round Enrolment fee Rs. 44000 for GEN/GEN-EWS/OBC-NCL and Rs. 24000 for SC/ST/PwD [Which includes Special Round Processing Fee of Rs 4,000/- (Non-refundable fee towards participation in CSAB-Special Round) and Institute Admission Fee-I of Rs 40,000/- for GEN/GEN-EWS/OBC-NCL or Rs 20,000/- for SC/ST/PwD (first instalment of admission fee in the allotted institute)]
✤Type-3: Candidates who have participated in JoSAA 2024 and have been allotted seats but cancelled due to non-payment of SAF. Special Round Enrolment fee Rs. 44000 for GEN/GEN-EWS/OBC-NCL and Rs. 24000 for SC/ST/PwD [Which includes Special Round Processing Fee of Rs 4,000/- (Non-refundable fee towards participation in CSAB-Special Round) and Institute Admission Fee-I of Rs 40,000/- for GEN/GEN-EWS/OBC-NCL or Rs 20,000/- for SC/ST/PwD (first instalment of admission fee in the allotted institute)]
✤Type-4: Candidates who have exercised the EXIT option during JoSAA 2024. Special Round Enrolment fee Rs. 44000 for GEN/GEN-EWS/OBC-NCL and Rs. 24000 for SC/ST/PwD [Which includes Special Round Processing Fee of Rs 4,000/- (Non-refundable fee towards participation in CSAB-Special Round) and Institute Admission Fee-I of Rs 40,000/- for GEN/GEN-EWS/OBC-NCL or Rs 20,000/- for SC/ST/PwD (first instalment of admission fee in the allotted institute)]
✤Type-5: Candidates who have participated in JoSAA 2024 and have been allotted seats in any IIT and later their seats have been CANCELLED after document verification, OR they have WITHDRAWN from their allotted seats, OR they have taken admission therein. Special Round Enrolment fee Rs. 44000 for GEN/GEN-EWS/OBC-NCL and Rs. 24000 for SC/ST/PwD [Which includes Special Round Processing Fee of Rs 4,000/- (Non-refundable fee towards participation in CSAB-Special Round) and Institute Admission Fee-I of Rs 40,000/- for GEN/GEN-EWS/OBC-NCL or Rs 20,000/- for SC/ST/PwD (first instalment of admission fee in the allotted institute)]
✤Type-6: Candidates who have participated in JoSAA 2024 and have been allotted seats in NIT+ System and have already SECURED ADMISSION at the allotted institute by paying the SAF and PAF. Special Round Enrolment fee Rs. 4000 for GEN/GEN-EWS/OBC-NCL (adjusted Fee Rs 40000) and Rs. 4000 for SC/ST/PwD (adjusted Fee Rs 20000) [Which includes Special Round Processing Fee of Rs 4,000/- (Non-refundable fee towards participation in CSAB-Special Round) and Institute Admission Fee-I of Rs 0/- for GEN/GEN-EWS/OBC-NCL or Rs 0/- for SC/ST/PwD (first instalment of admission fee in the allotted institute)]
✤Type-7: Candidates who have participated in JoSAA 2024 and have been allotted seats in NIT+ system and later they have WITHDRAWN from their allotted seats. Special Round Enrolment fee Rs. 11000 for GEN/GEN-EWS/OBC-NCL (adjusted Fee Rs 33000) and Rs. 11000 for SC/ST/PwD (adjusted Fee Rs 13000) [Which includes Special Round Processing Fee of Rs 4,000/- (Non-refundable fee towards participation in CSAB-Special Round) and Institute Admission Fee-I of Rs 7,000/- for GEN/GEN-EWS/OBC-NCL or Rs 7,000/- for SC/ST/PwD (first instalment of admission fee in the allotted institute)]
✤Type-8: Candidates who have participated in JoSAA 2024 and have been allotted seats in NIT+ System but later their seats have been CANCELLED after document verification and have not been allotted any seat in any of the subsequent JoSAA rounds (with their updated credentials provided they fulfil the eligibility). Special Round Enrolment fee Rs. 8000 for GEN/GEN-EWS/OBC-NCL (adjusted Fee Rs 36000) and Rs. 8000 for SC/ST/PwD (adjusted Fee Rs 16000) [Which includes Special Round Processing Fee of Rs 4,000/- (Non-refundable fee towards participation in CSAB-Special Round) and Institute Admission Fee-I of Rs 4,000/- for GEN/GEN-EWS/OBC-NCL or Rs 4,000/- for SC/ST/PwD (first instalment of admission fee in the allotted institute)]
✤Type-9: Candidates who have participated in JoSAA 2024 and have been allotted seats in NIT+ System and have paid SAF and successfully completed document verification but their seats have been CANCELLED due to non-payment of PAF. Special Round Enrolment fee Rs. 11000 for GEN/GEN-EWS/OBC-NCL (adjusted Fee Rs 33000) and Rs. 11000 for SC/ST/PwD (adjusted Fee Rs 13000) [Which includes Special Round Processing Fee of Rs 4,000/- (Non-refundable fee towards participation in CSAB-Special Round) and Institute Admission Fee-I of Rs 7,000/- for GEN/GEN-EWS/OBC-NCL or Rs 7,000/- for SC/ST/PwD (first instalment of admission fee in the allotted institute)]
Note: Type-6 candidates will be participating in CSAB Special Rounds while retaining their seats for which they have already secured admission after JoSAA rounds. In case, a new seat is allotted in CSAB Special round, then their retained seats will AUTOMATICALLY GET CANCELLED and candidates will not have any claim on the previously secured/retained seats.
Candidates, who have participated in JoSSA Rounds are also eligible to participate in CSAB-Special Round. For such candidates, if they have paid SAF and/or PAF, the same will be adjusted after deduction of JoSAA Processing Fee (Rs 4,000/-) and Withdrawal Fee (Rs 3,000/-), as applicable.
Notes: In addition to the above fees, following two adjustments may be applicable in certain cases:
- Candidates whose categories were changed from SC/ST/PwD to GEN/GEN-EWS/OBC-NCL during online document verification in JoSAA Rounds and have not paid Partial Admission Fee (PAF), are required to pay Rs 20,000/-, which is the difference of SAF between GEN/GEN-EWS/OBC-NCL category and SC/ST/PwD category candidates. This amount is to be paid along with special round enrolment fee.
- Candidates whose categories were changed during Online Document Verification in JoSAA and have confirmed their seats by paying PAF, must have paid this difference amount of Rs 20,000/- at the time of PAF payment.
Step by Step CSAB Special Round Counselling Process
All the candidates are required to do a fresh registration through CSAB Portal https://csab.nic.in/csab-special/ in online mode for participation. Students have to register using application number and password of their JEE Main Examination. Candidates whose documents are not verified during JoSAA rounds can update their State of Eligibility, Nationality, Gender, and Category (only from Beneficiary to non-Beneficiary Category) at the time of CSAB-2024 Special Round registration.
Candidates have to fill their choices of institutes after the payment of counselling enrolment fees. They have to fill in the choices from the list of institutes available to them as per their rank and category. Students must note that they have to enter fresh choices for CSAB special round for NITs, IIITs and GFTIs as the choices entered during JoSAA will not be considered. Choices must be filled in the order of preference. All valid choices will be shown to the candidates except the last SECURED seat at NIT+ System after JoSAA rounds. The last SECURED JoSAA seat will automatically be considered as the last
choice for seat Allotment. Candidates need to fill as many choices as available to them to increase their possibilities of seat allotment. Candidates need to lock their choices before the last date of choice locking else their choices will be automatically locked. Once locked, the choices filled by the candidates cannot be edited. Candidates willing to edit their locked choices may do so by submitting an online request in the CSAB portal well before the choice filling deadline. Later on, the candidates can download locked choice letter.
The counselling authority will announce seat allotment result of CSAB special round 1 for NITs, IIITs and GFTIs in online mode. Students have to log in to their candidate portal to check the status of CSAB special round 1 seat allotment result. Seat allotment will be carried out according to JEE (Main) – 2024 ranks (CRL) for the vacant seats. The candidates who got seat at first round can download initial seat allotment intimation slip.
Candidates who have SECURED seats by the last round (6th round) of JoSAA-2024 and are not participating in CSAB-2024 Special Rounds, may undergo category upgradation against their SECURED seats. This means that their earlier allotted seats will be retained in the same program and in the same institute, but the seat category may be upgraded. For example, if a candidate has been allotted a seat in Computer Science and Engineering at NIT Rourkela under OBC-NCL seat category, the candidate’s allotted seat category may be upgraded to OPEN seat category while retaining the seat to Computer Science and Engineering at NIT Rourkela, even if the candidate has not participated in CSAB Special Round.
Options available after First Round of Seat Allotment
Candidates will have five options after initial Seat Allotment and has to select one option.
- FREEZE: Candidate ACCEPTS the allotted seat and does not want to participate in the next round of seat allocation. Such candidates will NOT be considered for Special Round-II.
- SLIDE: Candidate ACCEPTS the allotted seat and wishes to participate in the next round of seat allotment for a higher preferred choice of seat in the same allotted institute. In case a higher preferred choice is not allotted in the next round, the candidate will continue with the accepted seat.
- FLOAT: Candidate ACCEPTS the allotted seat and wishes to participate in the next round of seat allotment for a higher preferred choice of seat in the same or any other institute and branch. In case a higher preferred choice is not allotted in the next round, the candidate will continue with the accepted seat.
- SURRENDER: Candidate REJECTS the allotted seat and wishes to participate in Special Round-II. Seat allotted in JoSAA-2024 (NITs, IIITs, GFTIs) or CSAB-2024 Special Round-I will be cancelled. Allotment in Special Round-II will be considered from the choices higher than the surrendered seat.
- WITHDRAW: Candidate REJECTS the allotted seat and does not wish to participate in Special Round-II. Seat allotted in JoSAA-2024 (NITs, IIITs, GFTIs) or CSAB-2024 Special Round-I will be cancelled. No new allotment will be made in Special Round-II in such cases.
Note: Willingness options SURRENDER/WITHDRAW can be exercised only before the payment of Institute Admission Fee-II.
The following willingness is applicable only for those candidates who have NOT BEEN ALLOTTED any seat in Special Round-I.
- EXIT: Those candidates who have not been allotted any seat in JoSAA-2024 rounds (NIT+ System)/CSAB-2024 Special Round-I can exercise the option of “EXIT”, if they desire. This implies that the candidate is not willing to participate in CSAB Special Round – II seat allocation process.
After seat allotment of Special Round-I, if the candidate exercises the willingness option FREEZE/SLIDE/ FLOAT and has uploaded all the required documents, she/he MUST pay the Institute Admission Fee-II using Net Banking/Debit Card/Credit Card or State Bank of India e-challan. Institute Admission Fee-II of Rs 32,000/- for GEN/GEN-EWS/OBC-NCL or Rs. 12,000/- for SC/ST/PwD (second instalment of admission fee in the allotted institute) have to be paid by all candidates, who have been allocated a seat in the CSAB Special Rounds. However, candidates who have already paid PAF during JoSAA Rounds (i.e., Type-6 candidates) will not be required to pay IAF-II in CSAB Special Rounds.
Candidates who have SECURED their seats successfully during JoSAA-2024 by paying PAF and are participating in CSAB-Special Rounds, if DO NOT choose any of the options FREEZE/SLIDE/FLOAT/SURRENDER/WITHDRAW, they will be automatically moved to Special Round-II with FLOAT as their default willingness option.
Note: If a candidate (other than those specified above) has been freshly allotted a seat in Special Round-I and does not select any of the willingness options FREEZE/SLIDE/FLOAT/SURRENDER/WITHDRAW, OR selects a willingness option (FREEZE/SLIDE/FLOAT) but does NOT pay Institute Admission Fee-II, OR selects a willingness option FREEZE/SLIDE/FLOAT, pays the Institute Admission Fee-II but DOES NOT respond timely to the queries of Verification Centre Officials regarding her/his document verification as per the schedule given on CSAB-2024 website, then her/his seat will be CANCELLED, and the candidate will NOT be considered for next round of seat allotment.
Candidates who are allotted seats for the FIRST TIME in the CSAB Special Round-II are required to go through the document uploading, Payment of Institute Admission fee-II and online reporting and Document Verification through their CSAB-2024 portal. The steps are similar to that of Special Round-I. These steps are also MANDATORY for those candidates who have exercised willingness
option “SURRENDER” after CSAB-2024 Special Round-I allotment, and fresh seats are allotted to them in CSAB Special Round-II, provided such candidates did not go through document verification in NIT+ System during JoSAA rounds.
Fee Adjustment and Refund
If the candidates who have deposited Fees against the allotted seats in any of the IITs during JoSAA Rounds are allotted seats in the CSAB Special Rounds, the fee deposited during JoSAA rounds will NOT be adjusted in the fee of the newly Allotted Institute in CSAB-Special Round. In such cases candidates have to go through the refund process and refund rules of IITs, if any.
If refund is admissible, the fee paid by the candidates during JoSAA-2024 (for NIT+ System) and CSAB-2024 Special Rounds (except the Special Round Processing Fee) will be refunded after the following deductions, as applicable.
- JoSAA Processing Fee (Rs 4,000): Upon acceptance of the offered seat as indicated by successful payment of Seat Acceptance Fee in JoSAA Rounds (for NIT+ System), the JoSAA processing fee of Rs 4,000/- will be deducted from the fee paid.
- Withdrawal Fee (Rs 3,000): After the payment of Seat Acceptance Fee in JoSAA Rounds (for NIT+ System), if the candidate withdraws the allotted seat OR fails to pay the Partial Admission Fee after successful document verification, additional Rs 3,000/- will be deducted from the fee paid.
- In addition, if a candidate has been allotted a seat in CSAB Special Round-I OR retained the JoSAA seat in NIT+ System but, did not complete online reporting, OR document verification during Special Round-I is unsuccessful, OR the candidate exercises the willingness option WITHDRAW, OR the candidate exercises the willingness option SURRENDER and NO seat is allotted to the candidate in CSAB Special Round-II, then additional Rs 3,000/- will be deducted from the fee paid.
NOTE: There shall be NO refund from CSAB-2024 for those candidates, who fail to join the allotted institute after the completion of CSAB Special Round-II OR who have been allotted seats in Special Round-II and fail to pay the Institute Admission Fee-II OR the seat is cancelled due to ineligibility or inappropriate documents or not responding to queries of the verifying officials timely, during Document Verification of Special Round-II. The deposited fees, for such candidates, will be transferred to the allotted institutes after deducting the processing charges of Rs 4,000/- each for JoSAA-2024 Rounds and CSAB-2024 Special Rounds. The refund, if any, for such candidates shall be governed by the participating/admitting institutes.
