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Bangladesh’s Parliament on Tuesday passed the Public Examinations (Offences) (Amendment) Act, 2026, introducing tougher penalties to curb digital fraud, hacking, question leaks and other organised crimes related to public examinations.
The bill was tabled by Education Minister Dr A N M Ehsanul Haque Milon and passed by voice vote.
Under the amended law, offences such as unauthorised access to examination databases, digital fraud, hacking, data manipulation, question paper leaks and organised cheating networks are punishable by up to five years’ imprisonment, along with fines.
The law also makes it a punishable offence to enter examination centres with prohibited electronic devices without authorisation or to deliberately violate official examination directives.
In addition, examiners found intentionally inflating or reducing marks on answer scripts may face up to two years’ imprisonment.
The legislation further empowers authorities to impose fines, suspend licences or blacklist institutions and service providers involved in examination-related offences.
It also includes provisions to protect the identity of whistleblowers and ensures that juvenile offenders are tried in accordance with the country’s child protection laws.