The Common Admission Test, which is being conducted through computers for the first time, kicked off today with over 2.4 lakh students registering for the entrance for admission into IIMs.

The IIMs for the first time have entrusted the task of conducting the CAT to Prometric, an American firm, which is organising the computer-based test over a period of ten days.

The test is being conducted at 105 centres in 32 cities across the country. Students can appear in the test at these centres during the 10-day window period.

There will be two rounds of test each day. The first round will start from 10 am to 12.30 pm while the second round will be from 3.30 pm to 6 pm, Prometric said.

The aspirants will be evenly spread during the ten-day testing for smooth conduct of the entrance.

A total of 2,41,582 students have registered for the exam this year, which is a marginal drop as compared to last year when 2,46,000 students appeared in for CAT.

While the pattern of the exam -- the questions and the weightage of subjects -- will remain unchanged in the new format, the test does away with paperwork. These candidates will vie for around 2000 seats in IIMs.

Directional maps detailing the locations of all test centres have been made available on the CAT website by Prometric.

The IIM-CAT website has put out disclaimers, restricting disclosure, publishing, reproducing, transmitting, storing of the contents of the CAT or any information therein.

"Such actions and/or abetment thereof as aforementioned may constitute a cognisable offence punishable with imprisonment for a term up to three years and fine up to Rs two lakhs. Candidates who want to appear for CAT have to agree to a Non-Disclosure Agreement at the time of the test," it said.

Such action shall be in violation of the Indian Contract Act, 1872 and the Copyright Act, 1957 and the Information Technology Act, 2000, it said.