Rules for UPSC Civil Service Examination 2020

The rules for a competitive examination Civil Services Examination 2020 to be held by the UPSC

MINISTRY OF PERSONNEL, PUBLIC GRIEVANCES AND PENSIONS
(Department of Personnel and Training)
NOTIFICATION

New Delhi, the 12th February, 2020

RULES

F. No. 13018/07/2019-AIS(I). The rules for a competitive examination Civil Services Examination  to be held by the Union Public Service Commission in 2020 for the purpose of filling vacancies in the following services/posts are, with the  concurrence of the Ministries concerned and the Comptroller and Auditor General of India in respect of the Indian Audit and Accounts Service, published for general information :

(i) Indian Administrative Service.

(ii) Indian Foreign Service.

(iii) Indian Police Service.

(iv) Indian P&T Accounts and Finance Service, Group ‘A’.

(v) Indian Audit and Accounts Service, Group ‘A’.

(vi) Indian Revenue Service (Customs & Central Excise) Group “A”.

(vii) Indian Defence Accounts Service, Group ‘A’.

(viii) Indian Revenue Service (Income Tax) Group ‘A’.

(ix) Indian Ordnance Factories Service, Group ‘A’. (Asstt. Works Manager—Administration).

(x) Indian Postal Service, Group ‘A’.

(xi) Indian Civil Accounts Service, Group ‘A’.

(xii) Indian Railway Traffic Service, Group ‘A’.

(xiii) Indian Railway Accounts Service, Group ‘A’.

(xiv) Indian Railway Personnel Service, Group ‘A’.

(xv) Post of Assistant Security Commissioner, Group ‘A’ in Railway Protection Force.

(xvi) Indian Defence Estates Service, Group ‘A’.

(xvii) Indian Information Service, Junior Grade Group ‘A’.

(xviii) Indian Trade Service, Group ‘A’ (Gr. III).

(xix) Indian Corporate Law Service, Group ‘A’.

(xx) Armed Forces Headquarters Civil Service, Group ‘B’ (Section Officer’s Grade).

(xxi) Delhi, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Lakshadweep, Daman & Diu and Dadra & Nagar Haveli Civil Service, Group ‘B’.

(xxii) Delhi, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Lakshadweep, Daman & Diu and Dadra & Nagar Haveli Police Service, Group ‘B’.

(xxiii) Pondicherry Civil Service, Group ‘B’.

(xxiv) Pondicherry Police, Service, Group ‘B’

1. All candidates (male/female/transgender) are requested to carefully read these Rules and the examination notice of the UPSC derived from these Rules.

The examination will be conducted by the Union Public Service Commission in the manner prescribed in Appendix I to these rules.

The dates on which and the places at which the Preliminary and Main Examinations will be held shall be fixed and notified by the Commission.

2. (1) For the Main Examination, a Candidate shall be required to submit on-line Detailed Application Form-I (DAF-I) along with scanned documents/certificates in support of date of birth, category [viz. SC/ST/OBC (without OBC Annexure)/EWS [Economically Weaker Section] (without EWS Annexure)/PwBD/Ex-Serviceman) and educational qualification with required Examination Fee.

(2) A candidate shall be required to mandatorily indicate order of preferences only for those services participating in the Civil Services Examination for the year, for which he is interested to be allocated to, in the on-line Detailed Application Form-II (DAF-II), before the commencement of Personality Test (Interviews) of the examination. With this Form, a candidate will also be required to upload documents/certificates for higher education, achievements in different fields, service experience, OBC Annexure (for OBC category only), EWS Annexure (for EWS category only), etc.

(3) In case of recommendation of his name by UPSC for service allocation, the candidate shall be considered for allocation to one of those services by the Government for which he shall indicate his preference subject to fulfilment of other conditions. No change in preferences of services once submitted by a candidate would be permitted.

(4) A candidate who wishes to be considered for Indian Administrative Service or Indian Police Service shall be required to indicate in his on-line Detailed Application Form-II his order of preferences for various Zones and Cadres for which he would like to be considered for allotment in case he is appointed to the Indian Administrative Service or Indian Police Service and no change in preference of Zone and Cadre once submitted by a candidate would be permitted.

Note 1 : The candidates are advised to be very careful while indicating preferences for various services or posts. In this connection, attention is also invited to clause (i) of rule 19.

Note 2 : The candidates are advised to visit Department of Personnel and Training website www.dopt.gov.in for information or details about service allocation, Cadre allotment and service profile.

Note 3 : The candidates who wish to indicate IAS/IPS as their Service preference are advised to indicate all the Zones and Cadres in the order of preference in their on-line Detailed Application Form-II as per the extant Cadre Allocation Policy applicable for the Civil Services Examination, 2020.

3. The number of vacancies to be filled through the examination will be specified in the Notice issued by the Commission.

Reservation will be made for candidates belonging to the Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, Other Backward Classes, the Economically Weaker Sections and candidates belonging to Persons with Benchmark Disability in respect of vacancies as may be fixed by the Government.

4. Every candidate appearing at the examination who is otherwise eligible, shall be permitted six attempts at the examination.

Provided that this restriction on the number of attempts will not apply in the case of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes candidates who are otherwise eligible.

Provided further that the number of attempts permissible to candidates belonging to Other Backward Classes, who are otherwise eligible, shall be nine. The relaxation will be available to the candidates who are eligible to avail of reservation applicable to such candidates.

Provided further that candidates belonging to persons with benchmark disability will get as many attempts as are available to candidates other than persons with benchmark disability of his or her community, subject to the condition that a candidate of person with benchmark disability belonging to the General and EWS Category shall be eligible for nine attempts. Necessary action to make corresponding changes in respective Rules/regulations pertaining to various services is being taken separately. The relaxation will be available to the candidate of persons with benchmark disability who are eligible to avail of reservation applicable to such candidates.

Note :

(I) An attempt at a Preliminary Examination shall be deemed to be an attempt at the Civil Services Examination.

(II) If a candidate actually appears in any one paper in the Preliminary Examination, he/she shall be deemed to have made an attempt at the Examination.

(III) Notwithstanding the disqualification/cancellation of candidature, the fact of appearance of the candidate at the examination will count as an attempt.

5. (1) For Indian Administrative Service, Indian Foreign Service and Indian Police Service, a candidate must be a citizen of India.

(2) For other Services, a candidate must be either

(a) a citizen of India, or

(b) a subject of Nepal, or

(c) a subject of Bhutan, or

(d) a Tibetan refugee who came over to India before the 1st January, 1962 with the intention of permanently settling in India, or

(e) a person of Indian origin who has migrated from Pakistan, Burma (Myanmar), Sri Lanka, East African countries of Kenya, Uganda, the United Republic of Tanzania, Zambia, Malawi, Zaire and Ethiopia or Vietnam with the intention of permanently settling in India.

Provided that a candidate belonging to categories (b), (c), (d) and (e) shall be a person in whose favour a certificate of eligibility has been issued by the Government of India.

A candidate in whose case a certificate of eligibility is necessary may be admitted to the examination but the offer of appointment may be given only after the necessary eligibility certificate has been issued to him/her by the Government of India.

6. (a) A candidate must have attained the age of 21 years and must not have attained the age of 32 years on the 1st of August, 2020 i.e., he must have been born not earlier than 2nd August, 1988 and not later than 1st August, 1999. Necessary action to make corresponding changes in respective Rules/Regulations pertaining to various services is being taken separately.

(b) The upper age-limit prescribed above will be relaxable:

(i) up to a maximum of five years if a candidate belongs to a Scheduled Caste or a Scheduled Tribe;

(ii) up to a maximum of three years in the case of candidates belonging to Other Backward Classes who are eligible to avail of reservation applicable to such candidates;

(iii) up to a maximum of three years in the case of Defence Services Personnel, disabled in operations during hostilities with any foreign country or in a disturbed area and released as a consequence thereof;

(iv) up to a maximum of five years in the case of ex-servicemen including Commissioned Officers and ECOs/SSCOs who have rendered at least five years Military Service as on 1st August, 2020 and have been released;

(a) on completion of assignment (including those whose assignment is due to be completed within one year from 1st August, 2020 otherwise than by way of dismissal or discharge on account of misconduct or inefficiency; or

(b) on account of physical disability attributable to Military Service; or

(c) on invalidment.

(v) up to a maximum of five years in the case of ECOs/SSCOs who have completed an initial period of assignment of five years of Military Service as on 1st August, 2020 and whose assignment has been extended beyond five years and in whose case the Ministry of Defence issues a certificate that they can apply for civil employment and that they will be released on three months notice on selection from the date of receipt of offer of appointment.

(vi) up to a maximum of 10 years in the case of Persons with Benchmark Disabilities viz. (a) blindness and low vision; (b) deaf and hard of hearing; (c) locomotor disability including cerebral palsy, leprosy cured, dwarfism, acid attack victims and muscular dystrophy; (d) autism, intellectual disability, specific learning disability and mental illness; (e) multiple disabilities from amongst person under clauses (a) to (d) including deaf-blindness.

Note I : Candidates belonging to the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes and the Other Backward Classes who are also covered under any other clauses of Rule 6(b) above, viz. those coming under the category of Ex-servicemen, Persons with Benchmark Disablities [viz. (a) blindness and low vision; (b) deaf and hard of hearing; (c) locomotor disability including cerebral palsy, leprosy cured, dwarfism, acid attack victims and muscular dystrophy; (d) autism, intellectual disability, specific learning disability and mental illness; (e) multiple disabilities from amongst person under clauses (a) to (d) including deaf-blindness.] will be eligible for grant of cumulative age-relaxation under both the categories.

Note II : The details of Functional Classification (FC) and Physical Requirements (PR) of each service are indicated in Appendix IV of these Rules which are identified and prescribed by the respective Cadre Controlling Authorities (CCAs) as per the provisions of Section 33 and 34 of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016. Only those category (ies) of disability (ies) mentioned in Appendix IV shall apply for the examination under Persons with Benchmark Disability (PwBD) Category. Therefore, the candidates belonging to the Persons with Benchmark Disability categories are advised to read it carefully before applying for the examination.

Note III : The term Ex-servicemen will apply to the persons who are defined as Ex-servicemen in the Ex-servicemen (Re-employment in Civil Services and Posts) Rules, 1979, as amended from time to time.

Note IV : The age concession under Rule 6(b)(iv) and (v) will be admissible to Ex-servicemen i.e. a person who has served in any rank whether as combatant or non-combatant in the Regular Army, Navy and Air Force of the Indian Union and who either has been retired or relieved or discharged from such service whether at his own request or being relieved by the employer after earning his or her pension.

Note V : Notwithstanding the provision of age-relaxation under Rule 6(b)(vi) above, Candidates of Persons with Benchmark Disability will be considered to be eligible for appointment only if he/she (after such physical examination as the Government or appointing authority, as the case may be, may prescribe) is found to satisfy the requirements of physical and medical standards for the concerned Services/Posts to be allocated to the Candidates of Persons with Benchmark Disability by the Government.

Save as provided above, the age-limits prescribed can in no case be relaxed.

The date of birth, accepted by the Commission is that entered in the Matriculation or Secondary School Leaving Certificate or in a certificate recognised by an Indian University as equivalent to Matriculation or in an extract from a Register of Matriculates maintained by a University which extract must be certified by the proper authority of the University or in the Higher Secondary or an equivalent examination certificate. These certificates are required to be submitted only at the time of applying for the Civil Services (Main) Examination. No other document relating to age like horoscopes, affidavits, birth extracts from Municipal Corporation, Service records and the like will be accepted.

The expression Matriculation/Higher Secondary Examination Certificate in this part of the Instruction include the alternative certificates mentioned above.

Note 1: Candidate should note that only the date of birth as recorded in the Matriculation/Secondary Examination certificate or an equivalent certificate on the date of submission of application will be accepted by the Commission, and no subsequent request for its change will be considered or granted.

Note 2: Candidates should also note that once a date of birth has been submitted by them in the application form and entered in the records of the Commission for the purpose of admission to an Examination, no change will be allowed subsequently or at any other Examination of the Commission on any grounds whatsoever.

7. A candidate must hold a degree of any of the Universities incorporated by an Act of the Central or State Legislature in India or other educational institutions established by an Act of Parliament or declared to be deemed as a University under Section 3 of the University Grants Commission Act, 1956 or possess an equivalent qualification.

Note I: Candidates who have appeared at an examination the passing of which would render them

informed of the result as also the candidates who intend to appear at such a qualifying examination will also be eligible for admission to the Preliminary Examination.

All candidates who are declared qualified by the Commission for taking the Civil Services (Main) Examination will be required to produce proof of passing the requisite examination along with their application (i.e. Detailed Application Form-I) for the Main Examination, failing which such candidates will not be admitted to the Main Examination. Such proof of passing the requisite examination should be dated earlier than the due date (closing date) of Detailed Application Form-I of the Civil Services (Main) Examination.

Note II: In exceptional cases the Union Public Service Commission may treat a candidate who does not have any of the foregoing qualification as a qualified candidate provided that he has passed examination conducted by other institution the standard of which in the opinion of the Commission justifies his admission to the examination.

Note III: Candidates possessing professional and technical qualifications which are recognised by Government as equivalent to professional and technical degree would also be eligible for admission to the examination.

Note IV: Candidates who have passed the final professional M.B.B.S or any other Medical Examination but have not completed their internship by the time of submission of their applications for the Civil Services (Main) Examination, will be provisionally admitted to the Examination provided they submit along with their application a copy of certificate from the concerned authority of the University/Institution that they had passed the requisite final professional medical examination. In such cases, the candidates will be required to produce at the time of their interview original degree or a certificate from the concerned competent authority of the University/Institution that they had completed all requirements (including completion of internship) for the award of the Degree.

8. A candidate who is appointed to the Indian Administrative Service or the Indian Foreign Service on the results of an earlier examination and continues to be a member of that service will not be eligible to compete at this examination.

In case such a candidate is appointed to the IAS/IFS after the Preliminary Examination of Civil Services Examination, 2020 is over and he/she continues to be a member of that service, he/she shall not be eligible to appear in the Civil Services (Main) Examination, 2020 notwithstanding his/her having qualified in the Preliminary Examination, 2020.

Also provided that if such a candidate is appointed to IAS/IFS after the commencement of the Civil Services (Main) Examination, 2020 but before the result thereof and continues to be a member of that service, he/she shall not be considered for appointment to any service/post on the basis of the result of this examination viz. Civil Services Examination, 2020.

8.1 A candidate who is appointed to the Indian Police Service on the results of an earlier examination and continues to be a member of that service shall not be eligible to opt for the Indian Police Service in Civil Services Examination 2020.

9. Candidates must pay the fees prescribed in the Commission’s Notice.

10. All candidates in Government service, whether in a permanent or in temporary capacity or as work charged employee, other than casual or daily rated employees or those serving under Public Enterprises will be required to submit an undertaking that they have informed in writing their Head of Office/Department that they have applied for the Examination. Candidates should note that in case a communication is received from their employer by the Commission withholding permission to the candidates applying for appearing at the examination, their applications will be liable to be rejected/candidature will be liable to be cancelled.

11. The decision of the Commission as to the eligibility or otherwise of a candidate for admission to the examination shall be final.

The candidates applying for the examination should ensure that they fulfil all the eligibility conditions for admission to the Examination. Their admission at all the stages of examination for which they are admitted by the Commission viz. Preliminary Examination, Main (Written) Examination and Interview Test will be purely provisional, subject to their satisfying the prescribed eligibility conditions. If on verification at any time before or after the Preliminary Examination, Main (Written) Examination and interview Test, it is found that they do not fulfil any of the eligibility conditions, their candidature for the examination will be cancelled by the Commission.

12. No candidate will be admitted to the Preliminary/Main Examination unless he holds a certificate of admission for the Examination.

13. The Commission will provide a window of specified period for withdrawal of application for Civil Services (Preliminary) Examination after the closing date of application. No request for withdrawal of candidate will, however, be entertained after the expiry of the specified period by the Commission under any circumstances.

……. to read more Click here to view/download the PDF of Rules