HACKATHON GUIDELINES & REGULATIONS
Official directives, squad eligibility criteria, deliverable benchmarks, and zero-tolerance compliance standards for HACKVERSE '26.
CRITICAL DIRECTIVES AT A GLANCE
Squad Composition
Each squad must comprise 3 to 6 members. Enrolled UG, PG, and Diploma students are eligible. Interdisciplinary roles encouraged.
Anonymous Team Name
STRICT ZERO-TOLERANCE: Team names CANNOT contain your college name, acronym, or initials.
MVP & Pitch Deck
All squads must submit a functional working prototype / MVP, technical architecture documentation, and a compelling pitch deck.
Jury Protocol
Participants must NOT contact or message jury members before official results. The jury’s decision is final and binding.
OFFICIAL RULEBOOK EXPLORER
Explore all 19 official directives or filter by category & keyword
Timeline Adherence & Intellectual Property
Adherence to the hackathon timeline and format is mandatory. Intellectual property rights of original solutions remain fully with the teams.
Strict Team Name Restriction (No College Identity)
The team name must not directly or indirectly reveal the team's college/institution. It must not contain the college name, acronym, abbreviation, short form, or any other identifiable reference.
Single Team Membership Constraint
A participant can be registered in only one team. Participation in multiple teams is strictly prohibited across all hackathon tracks.
Final Team Roster Lock
Teams must register with their final members (3 to 6 members). No addition, removal, or substitution of members will be allowed after registration, except when specifically approved in advance by the organizing committee.
Authentic Credentials & Student Status
All participant, mentor, college, and contact details must be accurate and authentic. False, forged, or misleading information may result in immediate disqualification.
Plagiarism & Open-Source Attribution Policy
Plagiarism, copying existing projects/solutions, or presenting someone else's work as your own is strictly prohibited. Permitted open-source tools, libraries, APIs, and datasets may be used in accordance with their licenses.
Problem Statement Selection Lock
Select your problem statement carefully. Changes to problem statements or themes after final registration will not be permitted without committee clearance.
No Duplicate Registrations or Proxy Accounts
Duplicate registrations, use of another person's identity/details, or attempts to bypass registration restrictions and team caps are strictly prohibited.
Anti-Cheating & Fair Play Directives
Cheating, impersonation, unauthorized assistance, score manipulation, fraudulent activity, or any other unfair practice is strictly prohibited at all stages of the hackathon.
Infrastructure & Platform Security Protocol
Any attempt to exploit vulnerabilities, bypass validations, manipulate data, gain unauthorized access, disrupt services, or misuse the hackathon website, APIs, servers, databases, or related systems is strictly prohibited.
Registration Screening & Verification
Registration does not guarantee final participation. All submitted details may be verified by the organizing committee before participation credentials and slots are confirmed.
Official Communication Channels
Teams must provide valid contact details (email and mobile) and regularly check official hackathon communications, discord announcements, and website bulletins.
Strict No-Jury-Contact Protocol
Participants must not contact or attempt to contact jury members regarding the hackathon until its official conclusion, including through LinkedIn, email, phone, messaging platforms, or social media. Any communication concerning evaluation, scoring, results, requests, or influence may result in immediate disqualification of the entire team.
Defamation & Misinformation Policy
Participants must not create or spread false, misleading, defamatory, or unverified information about the hackathon, organizers, jury, teams, evaluation, or results through any channel. Violations may result in disqualification and appropriate disciplinary or legal action.
Non-Disclosure of Internal Hackathon Data
Participants must not disclose or share any non-public or confidential hackathon information, including internal communications, unpublished results, evaluation details, jury discussions, participant/project data, or credentials. Unauthorized disclosure may result in disqualification.
Professionalism & Ethical Conduct
Teams are expected to maintain the highest levels of professionalism, collaborative spirit, and ethical conduct throughout the 36-hour sprint.
Jury Presentation Decorum
Teams are expected to maintain utmost decorum, respect, and technical conciseness during all evaluations, mentoring reviews, and Q&A interactions with the jury.
Finality & Binding Nature of Jury Decisions
The jury's decision regarding project evaluation, scoring, prize distribution, and rank assignment is final and binding on all participating squads.
Organizing Committee Discretionary Authority
The organizing committee reserves the right to verify registrations, investigate violations, reject/disqualify teams, and take necessary corrective action to maintain fairness. Its decision regarding eligibility and rule violations shall be absolute and final.
MANDATORY DELIVERABLES & OUTCOMES
WORKING MVP / PROTOTYPE
A fully functioning Minimum Viable Product demonstrating core algorithmic logic, features, and UI.
PITCH DECK & ROADMAP
High-impact presentation deck detailing problem scope, solution architecture, market feasibility, and scalability.
TECH ARCHITECTURE DOC
Comprehensive technical document covering data flows, API specifications, and deployment topology.
LIVE DEMO / WALKTHROUGH
Live prototype demonstration during jury evaluation defending edge-cases and technical architecture.
ZERO-TOLERANCE COMPLIANCE MATRIX
Team Name Masking
Using your college/university name, initials, abbreviation, or identifiable insignia in your squad name is strictly banned to preserve 100% blind jury evaluation.
No Jury Lobbying
Directly or indirectly contacting jury members via LinkedIn, email, or social media prior to official results declaration will lead to immediate squad disqualification.
Infrastructure Integrity
Any penetration testing, API tampering, DDoS attempts, or malicious interference against hackathon servers and contestant submissions is strictly forbidden.
Disclaimer
CodeBreakers Club and the Government College of Engineering Kalahandi (GCEK) Hackathon Organizing Committee reserve the right to disqualify any registered team at any stage of the hackathon — including before, during, or after the event — should any discrepancy, misrepresentation, or violation of the hackathon rules and guidelines be identified.
Furthermore, CodeBreakers GCEK and the Institute Organizing Committee reserve the right to cancel, postpone, or call off the hackathon at any point, without being obligated to furnish any reason or explanation for such a decision. In all matters pertaining to the hackathon, the decision of CodeBreakers Club and GCEK Kalahandi shall be final and binding on all registered participants.
REGISTER YOUR SQUAD TODAY
Equip your team with an original idea, align with the 36-hour sprint format, and compete for ₹1,50,000+ in prizes.