Checked 29 September 2026. High. NACIN posts notices, corrigenda and marks without a fixed pattern. Checked against the NACIN pages on 29 September 2026; the 2027-28 calendar is due by 30 April 2027.
NACIN publishes an annual calendar of departmental exams. The 2024 rules require it by 30 April each year (rule 2(5)), and it gives two sittings a year for both confirmation exams: August and February. The calendar is a plan, though, and it has not always held. One February sitting moved to March, one August Inspector sitting moved to September, and the notice for the August 2026 Inspector sitting was posted on CBIC's site rather than NACIN's own page. This guide puts each calendar date next to what happened, says which campus runs which exam, and lists the steps between a notice and your exam day.
Where other pages get this wrong
The February 2026 sittings are over. The next calendar dates are 10 to 12 February 2027 for Inspectors and 3 to 5 February 2027 for Preventive Officers and Examiners. The 2026-27 calendar, dated 26.03.2026, is on NACIN's site.
Commonly published instead: Pages that still show February 2026 as the next sitting, or the 2025-26 calendar as the current one. Our own CBIC notice board, published 22.09.2026, said both.
The 2026-27 calendar, NACIN/II/12/3/2026-EXAM-NACIN-PALASAMUDRAM dated 26.03.2026, lists 5 to 7 August 2026 and 10 to 12 February 2027 for Inspectors, and 19 to 21 August 2026 and 3 to 5 February 2027 for Preventive Officers and Examiners.
NACIN calendar 2026-27; DER 2024 rule 2(5) (official).
Who runs which exam
| Exam | Run by | Calendar months |
|---|---|---|
| Confirmation of direct-recruit Inspector of Central Tax and Central Excise | NACIN Zonal Campus Lucknow; the 2024-25 calendar and the results letter of 05.01.2024 say Kanpur | August and February |
| Confirmation of direct-recruit Preventive Officer and Examiner of Customs (and Appraiser (Expert)) | NACIN Zonal Campus Mumbai | August and February |
| Promotion to Inspector, Preventive Officer or Examiner (a different exam) | NACIN Chennai | Varies by year: August 2025 and January 2026; June 2026 and January 2027 |
Calendar against record, cycle by cycle
| Cycle | Inspector: calendar | Inspector: what happened | PO and Examiner: calendar | PO and Examiner: what happened |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023-24 | Not read by us | September 2023 sitting held (result relayed by NACIN Kanpur, 05.01.2024); 26 to 28 Feb 2024 held under the 2008 rules | Not read by us | Not found |
| 2024-25 | 6 to 9 Aug 2024; 4 to 7 Feb 2025 | 7 to 9 Aug 2024 held, statement of marks published; February moved to 19 to 21 Mar 2025, held, statement of marks published | 21 to 23 Aug 2024; 19 to 21 Feb 2025 | August: a NACIN Mumbai notice of 28.06.2024 is reported; we did not read it. February moved to 5 to 7 Mar 2025 (Corrigendum 5 and the Mumbai letter of 21.01.2025) |
| 2025-26 | 6 to 8 Aug 2025; 11 to 13 Feb 2026 | August: rescheduled and held 2 to 4 Sep 2025; statement of marks published 30.12.2025. February: held 11 to 13 Feb 2026; statement of marks published 06.07.2026 | 20 to 22 Aug 2025; 4 to 6 Feb 2026 | Both notified |
| 2026-27 | 5 to 7 Aug 2026; 10 to 12 Feb 2027 | August: notified by NACIN ZC Lucknow letter NACIN/TRNG/EXAM/DE/4/2026 (file dated 30.06.2026, posted on CBIC 01.07.2026) for 5 to 7 Aug 2026, requisitions by 30.07.2026; no marks yet. February: not yet due | 19 to 21 Aug 2026; 3 to 5 Feb 2027 | August notified (requisitions by 07.08.2026). February: not yet due |
| Aug 2024 | Feb/Mar 2025 | Aug/Sep 2025 | Feb 2026 | Aug 2026 | Feb 2027 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Inspector (ZC Lucknow) | marks out | marks out | marks out (Sep) | marks out | notified | ahead |
| PO and Examiner (ZC Mumbai) | reported | notified | notified | notified | notified | ahead |
Darkest: a public statement of marks exists. Middle: we read a NACIN notice for the sitting. Light: a notice is reported but we could not read it. Blank: still ahead.
Our summary of the NACIN and CBIC pages and notices as seen on 29.09.2026. "Notified" is not "held": we print held only where marks are public.
Two August Inspector sittings need care. The August 2025 one was moved: NACIN's Annexure-I schedules it for 2 to 4 September 2025 (official). It was held on those dates: NACIN ZC Lucknow's statement of marks for 2 to 4 September 2025 was posted on CBIC's Departmental Examinations list on 30.12.2025. The February 2026 sitting's statement followed on 06.07.2026. For August 2026, NACIN ZC Lucknow's letter NACIN/TRNG/EXAM/DE/4/2026 (file dated 30.06.2026, posted on CBIC on 01.07.2026) notified the sitting for 5 to 7 August 2026: requisitions to reach Lucknow by 30.07.2026, Paper-I emailed to nodal officers on 04.08.2026 with the password 40 minutes before the start, six written papers under DER 2024. It also asked Commissionerates to check the February 2026 result, then "expected to be declared shortly", before nominating. No statement of marks for August 2026 had been posted by 29.09.2026, so we say notified, not held. For the August 2024 PO and Examiner sitting, a NACIN Mumbai letter of 28.06.2024 is reported; we did not read it. If you were due to sit in any of these, your Commissionerate's nomination letter is the record.
From notice to exam day
Candidates do not apply to NACIN. You apply to your own Commissionerate, which checks eligibility and sends NACIN a requisition: the number of candidates and papers for each centre. NACIN then emails the papers to a nominated nodal officer. These are the steps with the dates from two recent sittings.
| Step | Inspector, Feb 2026 sitting | PO and Examiner, Aug 2026 sitting |
|---|---|---|
| NACIN notice to Cadre Controlling Authorities | Emailed 09.01.2026 (NACIN/TRNG/EXAM/DE/1/2026) | Issued by NACIN ZC Mumbai under the 2026-27 calendar dated 26.03.2026 |
| Your application to the Commissionerate | By 23.01.2026 in the Bengaluru zone | Set by each Commissionerate; not in the NACIN notice |
| Requisition from the Commissionerate to NACIN | By 30.01.2026 | By 07.08.2026, to nacenmum@nic.in |
| Test mail to nodal officers | Not stated | 17.08.2026 |
| Question papers emailed | Paper-I on 10.02.2026 | The day before each exam day: 18, 19 and 20.08.2026 |
| Password | Not stated in the letter we read; the March 2025 notice gave it 40 minutes before the start | By SMS to the nodal officer, 40 minutes before the start |
| Exam | 11 to 13.02.2026 | 19 to 21.08.2026 |
| Result | Statement of marks sent to Commissionerates and posted on CBIC on 06.07.2026; the Cadre Controlling Authority declares the result | Declared by the Cadre Controlling Authority |
The March 2025 Inspector notice states the rule plainly: requisitions received after the due date "shall not be entertained". Miss your Commissionerate's internal date and you may not be nominated for that sitting. How the department then records that sitting against your chances is not stated in the rules or notices we read; ask your Cadre Controlling Authority.
Conflicts we could not resolve
Both sides, as the documents print them
- Kanpur or Lucknow. The 2024-25 calendar gives the Inspector exam to "NACIN-Zonal Campus, Kanpur", and the September 2023 result came from NACIN Kanpur. The 2025-26 and 2026-27 calendars and the notices from 2025 name Lucknow. The March 2025 notice from Lucknow still uses a nacen.kn-up email address and says the campus has held the Inspector confirmation exam "since June, 2006". Corrigendum 1 to the 2026-27 calendar still lists Kanpur among the addresses it is copied to. We read this as the same campus function under a new name and place, and we write "Lucknow (formerly Kanpur)".
- February moved to March, 2025. Corrigendum 5 (17.01.2025) moved the Inspector sitting from 4 to 7 February to 19 to 21 March 2025, and the PO and Examiner sitting from 19 to 21 February to 5 to 7 March. NACIN Mumbai's letter of 09.12.2024 had given February; its letter of 21.01.2025 applied the corrigendum and moved the sitting to March, and its letter of 14.02.2025 circulated the Board letter. It was one sitting each, rescheduled.
- The August Inspector sittings. The 2025-26 calendar gives 6 to 8 August 2025; NACIN's Annexure-I gives 2 to 4 September 2025. The 2026-27 calendar gives 5 to 7 August 2026, and NACIN Lucknow's letter of 30.06.2026 kept those dates; the letter is on CBIC's site, not NACIN's page. See above.
- Computer-based papers. Rule 2(2) says the exams "shall be Computer Based Examinations", introduced in a graded manner. The 2026-27 calendar says NACIN "has finalized a Technology Partner" and will use computer-based papers "wherever feasible", especially for objective papers. Every notice we read, up to August 2026, still emails PDFs for written answers.
- "Once" or twice. In the 2026-27 calendar the frequency column for the promotion exam to Inspector says "Once", but the same row gives two dates: 17 to 19 June 2026 and 6 to 8 January 2027. We print the dates.
The promotion exam runs on its own timetable
The promotion exam to Inspector, for Executive Assistants, Stenographers Grade-I, Women Searchers and Draftsmen, is run by NACIN Chennai on different dates. It uses the same syllabus blocks, so the two exams are easy to confuse.
| Cycle | Promotion to Inspector (NACIN Chennai): calendar | What the NACIN page shows |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 24 to 26 Jul 2024; 22 to 24 Jan 2025 | Items for January 2025 and April 2025. Corrigendum 5 also changed this exam's entries; the scanned text is too garbled to read the new dates |
| 2025-26 | 18 to 20 Jun 2025; 7 to 9 Jan 2026 | Notices for July 2025, August 2025 (NACIN Chennai notice of 16.07.2025) and January 2026 |
| 2026-27 | 17 to 19 Jun 2026; 6 to 8 Jan 2027 | Notice dated 28.04.2026 for 17 to 19 Jun 2026: nominations by 25.05.2026, roll numbers by mail on 10.06.2026 |
What to do before February 2027
Our suggestions, not NACIN's
- Ask your Commissionerate in December for its internal application date. In the February 2026 cycle, Bengaluru's was 23 January, three weeks before the exam.
- If your normal period under rule 5 ends before February 2027 (your probation, or two years if you were not appointed on probation), ask the competent authority for your additional chance in time for the sitting.
- Get Hindi and law-degree exemptions recorded before the requisition goes to NACIN.
- Watch the NACIN Departmental Examination (Officers) page from early January for the Inspector notice. In the February 2026 cycle it was emailed on 9 January.
- Look for the 2027-28 calendar by 30 April 2027 (rule 2(5)). It will set the next dates; if NACIN keeps its recent pattern, they will fall around August 2027 and February 2028, but that is a pattern, not a rule.
The papers themselves are covered in the Inspector guide and the PO and Examiner guide, and chances in the chances guide. New notices are posted on our CBIC departmental exam notice board.
When is the next CBIC Inspector confirmation exam?
The 2026-27 NACIN calendar gives 10 to 12 February 2027. The notice for it had not been posted when we checked on 29 September 2026.
When is the next Preventive Officer and Examiner exam?
The 2026-27 calendar gives 3 to 5 February 2027. The last notified sitting was 19 to 21 August 2026.
Was the August 2026 Inspector exam held?
It was notified: NACIN ZC Lucknow's letter NACIN/TRNG/EXAM/DE/4/2026, posted on CBIC on 01.07.2026, fixed 5 to 7 August 2026 with requisitions due by 30.07.2026. No statement of marks had been posted by 29 September 2026, so we cannot yet confirm that it was held. For the two sittings before it, marks were posted four to five months after the exam (30.12.2025 for September 2025, 06.07.2026 for February 2026; the gap is our arithmetic). Ask your Commissionerate.
Is it NACIN Kanpur or NACIN Lucknow?
The 2024-25 calendar and older letters say Kanpur; the calendars from 2025-26 on and the recent notices say Lucknow. We treat them as the same zonal campus, now at Lucknow.
How do I apply?
Through your own Commissionerate or Directorate, which sends a requisition to NACIN. Candidates do not apply to NACIN directly, and a candidate who is not in the requisition cannot sit.
Is the exam online now?
Not as far as the notices show. The rules and the 2026-27 calendar promise computer-based papers, but the notices up to August 2026 still email password-protected PDFs to nodal officers, and answers are written.
Why did the February 2025 exam happen in March?
Corrigendum 5 to the 2024-25 calendar, dated 17.01.2025, moved both confirmation sittings to March 2025. The 2024 rules had come into force on 18.12.2024, and the Board clarified the change from the 2008 rules on 13.02.2025. The corrigendum itself gives no reason.
Sources
- official — NACIN Annual Calendar of Departmental Examinations 2024-25, NACIN/II/12/4/2024 dated 20.05.2024 (with the latest corrigendum)
- official — NACIN Corrigendum 5 to the Annual Calendar 2024-25, dated 17.01.2025
- official — NACIN Annual Calendar of Departmental Examinations 2025-26, NACIN/II/12/13/2024 dated 31.03.2025
- official — NACIN Annual Calendar of Departmental Examinations 2026-27, NACIN/II/12/3/2026-EXAM-NACIN-PALASAMUDRAM dated 26.03.2026, and Corrigendum 1 (linked from the NACIN pages)
- official — NACIN ZTI Bengaluru, F.No. NACIN/II/11/2/2025-CAO (e-file I/4281836/2026), Corrigendum 2 to the 2026-27 calendar: the Stenographer Grade-II confirmation exam moves from 1-3 July 2026 to 23-25 September 2026, citing the Pr. ADG letter of 10.06.2026, posted on CBIC 22.06.2026; the Inspector and PO/Examiner dates are not changed
- official — NACIN ZTI Lucknow letter NACIN/TRNG/EXAM/DE/4/2026 (e-file I/4330516/2026; file dated 30.06.2026, posted on CBIC 01.07.2026): departmental examination of Inspectors of Central Tax and Central Excise for confirmation, 05.08.2026 to 07.08.2026, requisitions by 30.07.2026, with Annexures I to III
- official — NACIN ZTI Lucknow forwarding letter NACIN/TRNG/EXAM/DE/4/2025 (e-file I/3686987/2025) and statement of marks, Inspector confirmation exam 02.09.2025 to 04.09.2025, posted on CBIC 30.12.2025 (we print no names, roll numbers or counts)
- official — NACIN ZTI Lucknow forwarding letter (digitally signed 06.07.2026) and statement of marks, Inspector confirmation exam 11.02.2026 to 13.02.2026, posted on CBIC 06.07.2026 (we print no names, roll numbers or counts)
- official — CBIC: Departmental Officers > Examinations > Departmental Examinations list (read through the site's content API on 29.09.2026)
- official — Gazette of India Extraordinary No. 711, G.S.R. 773(E) dated 18.12.2024: Departmental Examination (Central Tax, Central Excise, Customs and Narcotics) Rules, 2024, with Appendix A and Appendix B (copy hosted by NACIN)
- official — NACIN ZTI Lucknow, NACIN/Sys/54/2024: Departmental examination of Inspectors of Central Tax for confirmation, 19-21.03.2025 (English notice)
- official — NACIN ZTI Lucknow, Annexure-I (Word file): schedule and syllabus for the Inspector confirmation exam 02-04.09.2025
- official — GST Karnataka (Bengaluru zone), letter GCCO/II/12/5/2026 relaying NACIN/TRNG/EXAM/DE/1/2026: Inspector confirmation exam 11-13.02.2026 (read from the zone site)
- official — GST Karnataka, EGSO 1/2024: result of the September 2023 Inspector confirmation exam, relaying NACIN Kanpur NACIN/II/12/2/2023 dated 05.01.2024
- official — GST Karnataka, EGSO 04/2024: Inspector confirmation exam 26-28.02.2024 under the 2008 rules
- official — NACIN ZC Mumbai letter dated 09.12.2024: PO and Examiner confirmation exam 19-21.02.2025 under the 2008-rules paper list (scan, linked from the NACIN page)
- official — NACIN ZC Mumbai letter F.No. NACIN/TRNG/EXAM/DE/3/2023 dated 21.01.2025: PO and Examiner confirmation exam 05-07.03.2025 under DER 2024, citing Corrigendum 5, with the revised schedule and syllabus (linked from the NACIN page)
- official — NACIN ZC Mumbai letter dated 14.02.2025 to all Cadre Controlling Authorities: circulates the Board letter of 13.02.2025 for the 05-07.03.2025 sitting
- official — NACIN ZC Mumbai: departmental exam notification, August 2025, for Preventive Officers and Examiners
- official — NACIN ZC Mumbai, NACIN/TRNG/EXAM/DE/3/2023 (e-file I/4316157/2026): confirmation exam of Appraiser (Expert), Examiners and Preventive Officers, 19-21.08.2026
- official — NACIN Chennai notification dated 28.04.2026: departmental examination for promotion to the grade of Inspector (Central Tax, Preventive Officer, Examiner), 17-19.06.2026 (bilingual)
- official — NACIN Chennai notice dated 16.07.2025: departmental examination for promotion to the grade of Inspector (Central Excise, Preventive Officer and Examiner), August 2025
- official — NACIN: statement of marks, Inspector confirmation exam 07.08.2024 to 09.08.2024 (used for its paper columns only)
- official — NACIN ZTI Lucknow: statement of marks, Inspector confirmation exam, March 2025 (used for counts only)
- official — NACIN: Departmental Examination (Officers) page, listing notices, calendars and statements of marks (seen 29.09.2026)
- official — NACIN home page: latest notices, the 2026-27 calendar and its corrigenda (seen 29.09.2026)
official = a document published by the conducting body. reported = a news or coaching site we could not check against an original. Where sources disagree this page says so rather than picking one.
