Checked 29 September 2026. From Appendix A and B of the Departmental Examination Rules 2024 and the NACIN notices to June 2026. Eligibility service periods sit in the Recruitment Rules, which this page does not reproduce.
Appendix B of the 2024 rules prints the Inspector syllabus under one long heading: "Confirmation examination of direct recruit Inspector of Central Tax & Central Excise and promotion examination of Executive Assistant, Stenographer Grade-I, Women Searcher and Draftsman". The Customs block has a heading of the same shape. So two different exams share one set of papers. Because of that, pages about one often describe the other, and people in the department use the names loosely too. This guide separates them: who sits which, which campus runs it, when it is held, and what is at stake if you fail. A chooser then tells you which one is yours.
Where other pages get this wrong
The confirmation exam is for direct recruits who have finished induction training. The promotion exam to Inspector is for staff in the feeder grades. The syllabus is the same, but everything else differs: the candidates, the campus, the dates and the consequences.
Commonly published instead: One exam that "covers GST law, customs law and procedure, and office procedure", which is how our own exam record describes it. That reads as a single exam for everyone, misses that it is a confirmation exam for direct recruits, and names office procedure, which is not a paper in either.
Appendix A gives each category its purpose. For Preventive Officer, Examiner and Inspector (categories iii, iv, v) the purpose is Confirmation, for officers "appointed by direct recruitment and who have successfully completed the mandatory induction training". Executive Assistant, Stenographer Grade-I and Women Searcher or Draftsman (categories vii, viii, x) sit for promotion to Inspector, Preventive Officer or Examiner, with "at least half of the eligible service in the grade as prescribed in the relevant recruitment rules".
DER 2024 Appendix A and B, rule 8(1); NACIN notices (official).
The two exams side by side
| Question | Confirmation exam | Promotion exam to Inspector |
|---|---|---|
| Who sits it | Direct-recruit Inspectors, Preventive Officers and Examiners, after induction training | Executive Assistants, Stenographers Grade-I, Women Searchers and Draftsmen, in their current grade |
| Purpose in Appendix A | Confirmation | Promotion to Inspector (Central Excise), Preventive Officer or Examiner |
| When you may sit | From your first nomination after induction training; on probation, pass within probation (rule 5(1)); not on probation, within 2 years of appointment (rule 5(2)) | After at least half of the eligible service in your grade, subject to satisfactory completion of probation in the entry grade (Appendix A; rule 5(4) and 5(5)) |
| Papers | The six papers of the Appendix B block | The same Appendix B block; the June 2026 notice set six papers of 3 hours each, 50 of 100 to pass |
| Run by | NACIN ZC Lucknow (Inspector), NACIN ZC Mumbai (PO and Examiner) | NACIN Chennai |
| Calendar months | August and February | Varies by year: August 2025 and January 2026; June 2026 and January 2027 |
| Next dates in the 2026-27 calendar | 10 to 12 Feb 2027 (Inspector); 3 to 5 Feb 2027 (PO and Examiner) | 6 to 8 Jan 2027 |
| If you do not pass | No confirmation, increments withheld after the deadline, and in the end loss of appointment (rule 7) | You stay in your grade; the exam is a condition for promotion, not for keeping the post you hold |
The last row of that table is our reading, and it matters most. Rule 7(5) takes away the appointment of a direct recruit who fails after every chance, and reverts "others" to the lower post. A feeder-grade officer who has not yet been promoted has no higher post to lose, so failing the promotion exam simply keeps them where they are. The rules do not spell that out, and they do not say how many times the promotion exam may be taken. Rule 6 is written around the two-year period in the grade you must pass for.
Which exam is yours?
Confirmation or promotion: a chooser
Answer for your current post. The second and third questions only matter for Inspectors, Preventive Officers and Examiners, and the last one only for the feeder grades; the chooser ignores them otherwise. This is our reading of Appendix A and rules 3, 5 and 8, not your Cadre Controlling Authority's decision.
For readers without JavaScript, the chooser follows this table.
| If you are | Your exam |
|---|---|
| A direct-recruit Inspector, PO or Examiner who has finished induction training | The confirmation exam: ZC Lucknow for Inspectors, ZC Mumbai for PO and Examiner |
| A direct recruit still in induction training | The confirmation exam, once training is complete; your rule 5 deadline (probation, or two years if not on probation) runs meanwhile |
| An Inspector, PO or Examiner promoted from a ministerial grade | If you passed the ministerial exam: Paper-IV Law (Inspector) or Paper-I Customs and Allied Law (PO or Examiner) within 1 year (rule 8(1)); a law graduate is not required to pass Paper-IV (rule 8(3), our reading). If you had not: all papers of the higher grade (rule 3, Note 2) |
| An Inspector, PO or Examiner transferred from another Central Tax or Customs Commissionerate | Nothing, if you already passed this grade's exam in your parent office (rule 3, Note 1) |
| An Inspector, PO or Examiner transferred from another department | The exam of the grade within 2 years (rule 5(3)), subject to the rule 8 exemptions |
| An Executive Assistant, Steno Grade-I or Draftsman with half the eligible service and probation in the entry grade complete | The promotion exam to Inspector, PO or Examiner (Draftsman: Inspector only), run by NACIN Chennai. A direct-recruit EA may also owe the separate EA confirmation exam (Appendix A, category vii) |
| A Women Searcher with the same service | Customs: the promotion exam to Preventive Officer. Central Tax: the promotion exam to Inspector |
| In a feeder grade with less than half the eligible service | Not yet; you may sit the rule 8(1) paper early, with no "special advantage for promotion" |
| A Tax Assistant | The promotion exam to Executive Assistant (Appendix A, category xi) |
| An Appraiser (Expert) | A separate seven-paper confirmation exam with a viva voce |
The one-paper rule for promoted ministerial officers
Rule 8(1) contains the provision that makes the two exams overlap in practice. A ministerial officer promoted to Inspector who has passed the ministerial departmental exam does not sit all six papers again. They must pass only Paper-IV (Law), within one year of promotion, and a law graduate is not required to pass even that (rule 8(3): "shall not be required to pass the test in that paper", our reading). One promoted to Preventive Officer or Examiner must pass Paper-I (Customs and Allied Law). The rule lets them take that paper before promotion, but says doing so "shall not entitle them to any special advantage for promotion". Some Commissionerates act on this: the Bengaluru letter for the February 2026 Inspector sitting invites Tax Assistants and Executive Assistants to apply for Paper-IV. In the March 2025 statement of marks from Lucknow, by our approximate count, 58 of the roll entries were Executive Assistants who sat Paper-IV only. So an Executive Assistant may sit one paper of the confirmation exam in Lucknow and, separately, the promotion exam in Chennai.
The June 2026 promotion sitting, for comparison
| Item | Detail | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Notice | NACIN Chennai, signed 28.04.2026 | NACIN Chennai notice (official) |
| Nominations from formations | By 25.05.2026 | NACIN Chennai notice (official) |
| Roll numbers | Mailed by NACIN Chennai on 10.06.2026 | NACIN Chennai notice (official) |
| Question papers | Mailed to the exam coordinator on the afternoon before each exam day (by that rule, 16, 17 and 18.06.2026; the dates are ours) | NACIN Chennai notice (official) |
| Papers, Central Tax Inspector grade | Central Excise, Customs, Administration, Law, Hindi, Computer; 3 hours each; 50 of 100 to pass | NACIN Chennai notice (official) |
| Papers, Customs (PO and Examiner) grade | Three Customs papers, a Commercial paper, Hindi, Computer; 3 hours each; 50 of 100 to pass | NACIN Chennai notice (official) |
| Computer paper | Theory 14:00 to 15:30 and practical 15:30 to 17:00 on 19.06.2026; practical 50 marks; at least 25 in theory and in practical | NACIN Chennai notice (official) |
The two exams are run the same way, which is another reason they get confused. The papers come from the same Appendix B blocks, the Computer paper is split the same way, papers are emailed to a coordinator the day before, and results are the Cadre Controlling Authority's to declare.
What we could not find
Not published in anything we read
- The length of "the eligible service in the grade as prescribed in the relevant recruitment rules" for each feeder grade. It is in the Recruitment Rules, which the exam rules do not reproduce.
- Whether passing the confirmation exam is a condition for later promotion to Superintendent. The exam rules do not say so; any such condition would be in the Superintendent Recruitment Rules, which we have not read.
- How many attempts a feeder-grade officer has at the promotion exam.
- Relaxed pass marks for SC, ST and OBC candidates. Rule 4 sets 50% in each paper. NACIN's instructions say the Cadre Controlling Authority declares the result applying the Ministry or Board relaxations "as may be applicable"; we found no document giving the relaxed figure.
- Pay levels. They are reported elsewhere, but we have not checked them against the Recruitment Rules, so we do not print them.
For the papers, see the Inspector guide and the PO and Examiner guide. For deadlines and chances, see the chances guide, and for dates, the calendar guide. The promotion exam has its own page: CBIC departmental exam for promotion to Inspector.
Is the CBIC departmental exam for Inspectors a promotion exam?
Not for a direct recruit. For direct-recruit Inspectors, Preventive Officers and Examiners it is a confirmation exam (Appendix A). The promotion exam to Inspector is a separate exam for Executive Assistants, Stenographers Grade-I, Women Searchers and Draftsmen.
Do the two exams have the same syllabus?
Yes. Appendix B prints one syllabus block that covers both the confirmation of direct-recruit Inspectors and the promotion exam of the feeder grades, and another that does the same for Customs.
Who conducts the promotion exam to Inspector?
NACIN Chennai. The June 2026 sitting was notified for 17 to 19 June 2026, and the 2026-27 calendar gives 6 to 8 January 2027 as the next date. The months vary: in 2025 the sitting was notified for August.
I am an Executive Assistant. Can I sit Paper-IV Law early?
Rule 8(1) lets a ministerial officer take the paper before promotion, without any special advantage for promotion, and some zones invite Tax Assistants and Executive Assistants to apply for it at the Inspector confirmation sitting.
I was promoted to Inspector from EA. Do I sit all six papers?
If you passed the ministerial departmental exam, rule 8(1) requires only Paper-IV (Law), within one year of promotion, and a law graduate is not required to pass that paper (rule 8(3), our reading). If you had not passed it, rule 3 Note 2 requires all the papers of the higher grade.
How much service do I need for the promotion exam?
At least half of the eligible service in your grade as the Recruitment Rules prescribe it (Appendix A), and rule 5(5) adds satisfactory completion of probation in the entry grade. The service figure is in the Recruitment Rules, not the exam rules.
Sources
- 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 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 — 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 — NACIN ZTI Lucknow: statement of marks, Inspector confirmation exam, March 2025 (used for counts only)
- 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-III to the March 2025 notice: instructions for the examination
- 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 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 Annual Calendar of Departmental Examinations 2025-26, NACIN/II/12/13/2024 dated 31.03.2025
- official — NACIN: Departmental Examination (Officers) page, listing notices, calendars and statements of marks (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.
