Flipkart Gridlock 2.0 Hackathon (2026) Black Box
I participated in Flipkart Gridlock 2.0 on HackerEarth, and the shortlisting process left a bad impression. This is not about one person being rejected.
The bigger issue is that the public leaderboard became unreliable after participants found that the reference/output data was accessible publicly. Once that happened, leaderboard rank alone obviously could not be treated as a clean signal. That part is understandable.
What is not understandable is the lack of clear communication after that. Participants were discussing apparent shortlist inconsistencies on Reddit and in the official HackerEarth discussion threads. From the outside, the pattern did not look straightforward:
- Some high-scoring teams moved ahead
- Some lower-scoring teams also moved ahead
- Some similar or higher-scoring teams did not
- Leaderboard position alone clearly did not explain the shortlist
Using extra evaluation criteria is completely fine. But then organizers should explain, at least at a high level, what kind of criteria were used.
Nobody needs the exact scoring formula, individual team evaluations, or internal weightages. A broad explanation of the evaluation categories would have been enough. Instead, the communication around the process stayed vague. Participants were left with general statements about "multiple criteria" and "confidentiality," without any useful explanation of what was actually evaluated.
That is the problem.
If participants are expected to spend days building solutions, organizers should provide basic clarity when the leaderboard becomes questionable and public discussions are already pointing out inconsistencies.
The issue is not rejection. The issue is that the process started to look arbitrary because no meaningful explanation was given. For a Flipkart-backed hackathon hosted on HackerEarth, the participant experience should have been better.
Hackathons need clearer communication when something goes wrong. Confidentiality should protect sensitive details, not block even basic process transparency.
Whether you were shortlisted or just participated, feel free to share your experience below.