Checked 29 September 2026. From rules 5 to 9 of the Departmental Examination Rules 2024. Sittings after February 2027 are our projection; NACIN issues each year's calendar by 30 April.
For a direct-recruit Inspector, Preventive Officer or Examiner, the departmental exam is not optional study. It decides whether you are confirmed, whether your pay keeps moving, and in the end whether you keep the job at all. The 2024 rules set it out in five short rules: rule 5 for the deadline, rule 6 for the chances, rule 7 for what happens if you miss them, and rules 8 and 9 for exemptions and relaxation. Here they are in plain language, followed by a calculator that counts the sittings you have left.
Where other pages get this wrong
The chances are not a fixed number printed in the rules. You get every sitting held in your two-year period, then up to five more, granted two, one and two at a time by three different authorities.
Commonly published instead: Nothing. The notice-board pages we found, including our own earlier CBIC notice page, list dates but do not say how many chances there are or what happens after the last one.
Rule 6(1) allows "as many chances as occur" in the two-year period. Rules 6(2) to 6(4) add 2 + 1 + 2 more, the last two "which shall be final". Rule 7(5) sets out the result of failing after all of them.
DER 2024 rules 5, 6 and 7 (official).
The deadline: rule 5
| Who | Must pass | Rule |
|---|---|---|
| Direct recruit on probation | Within the probation period or the extended probation, and in any case before crossing probation | 5(1) |
| Any other direct recruit | Within 2 years of appointment | 5(2) |
| Promotee or transferee | The exam of the grade promoted or transferred to, within 2 years | 5(3) |
| Candidate for a promotion exam | Becomes eligible after at least 50% of the qualifying service; the date that counts is when that service is actually completed, subject to probation being completed satisfactorily | 5(4), 5(5) |
None of the documents we read gives the probation period for these grades. It would be in the Recruitment Rules or your offer of appointment. The two deadlines are for different people: if you were appointed on probation, rule 5(1) and your probation period (or extended probation) set the deadline; the two years of rule 5(2) are for direct recruits appointed other than on probation. Rule 6(1) separately counts the chances that occur in the "initial two year period".
The chances: rule 6
| Stage | Chances | Granted by | Rule |
|---|---|---|---|
| Normal | As many as occur within the initial 2-year period | No grant needed | 6(1) |
| First additional | 2, consecutive | Principal Commissioner or Commissioner | 6(2) |
| Second additional | 1 | Principal Chief Commissioner or Chief Commissioner | 6(3) |
| Third additional | 2, consecutive, "which shall be final" | Chief Commissioner with the approval of the Board | 6(4) |
The 2, 1 and 2 come from rule 6 (official). The "about 4" is our arithmetic: NACIN schedules an Inspector sitting and a PO/Examiner sitting each August and February, so a two-year period covers four. The first may fall during induction training, and the rules print no total.
Three details in rule 6 cost people chances. Papers may be taken in parts, but a paper you do not appear in is "deemed" failed (Note 1). Every additional chance must be used "at the earliest possible opportunity" (rule 6(5)), so you cannot hold one back for a better-prepared sitting. And the Commissionerate sends NACIN and the Board a statement of candidates (Note 2), so your record of chances is kept by the department, not by you. In the zone we read, practice matches the rule: the Bengaluru letter for the February 2026 sitting says the Commissionerate allows the first and second additional chances, and requests for the third go to the Principal Chief Commissioner.
How many sittings do you have left?
Chances-left calculator
Choose your cadre and the month you were appointed, then say how many additional chances you have already used. The calculator counts the sittings in the two years from your appointment, and shows the sittings that follow, where the additional chances fall. It works in months: a sitting in your appointment month or in the month your two years end needs the exact dates, and it says so. It uses the dates in the table below. This is our arithmetic, not a decision by your Cadre Controlling Authority.
Our reading of DER 2024 rules 5 to 7 and the NACIN calendars 2024-25 to 2026-27. Sittings after February 2027, and before the dates we checked, are assumed to fall in February and August. Past sittings were sometimes moved (March 2025, September 2025), so we do not offer years before 2023.
For readers without JavaScript, these are the sittings the calculator counts. A sitting is inside your period if it falls after your appointment month and no later than 24 months after it; a sitting in either of those two months needs the exact dates. The additional chances are then the five sittings immediately after.
| Sitting | Inspector (ZC Lucknow, formerly Kanpur) | PO and Examiner (ZC Mumbai) |
|---|---|---|
| Aug 2024 | 7 to 9 Aug 2024: held, marks published | 21 to 23 Aug 2024: calendar date; a NACIN Mumbai notice of 28.06.2024 is reported, not read by us |
| Feb/Mar 2025 | 19 to 21 Mar 2025, moved from 4 to 7 Feb: held, marks published | 5 to 7 Mar 2025, moved from 19 to 21 Feb: notified |
| Aug/Sep 2025 | Calendar 6 to 8 Aug 2025; held 2 to 4 Sep 2025, statement of marks published 30.12.2025 | 20 to 22 Aug 2025: notified |
| Feb 2026 | 11 to 13 Feb 2026: held, statement of marks published 06.07.2026 | 4 to 6 Feb 2026: notified |
| Aug 2026 | 5 to 7 Aug 2026: notified by NACIN Lucknow (letter posted on CBIC 01.07.2026); no marks yet by 29.09.2026 | 19 to 21 Aug 2026: notified |
| Feb 2027 | 10 to 12 Feb 2027: calendar date | 3 to 5 Feb 2027: calendar date |
| Later | Not in any calendar yet; we assume February and August | Not in any calendar yet; we assume February and August |
A worked example of our own: an Inspector appointed in January 2025 has a two-year period ending in January 2027. Four Inspector sittings fall inside it: March 2025, September 2025 (the August sitting as rescheduled), February 2026 and August 2026. Checked on 29 September 2026, none of those is still ahead, so what is left are the five additional chances. If each is granted in turn, they would fall in February 2027 and at the four sittings after it. If you were appointed on probation, your probation dates, not this arithmetic, set the deadline.
What happens if you do not pass: rule 7
| Consequence | What the rule says | Rule |
|---|---|---|
| Confirmation | You are not confirmed (quasi-permanent or substantive) until you pass | 7(1) |
| Probation | You cannot cross probation | 7(2) |
| Increments | No further increment if you have not passed within the rule 5 period | 7(3) |
| Restoration | The next increment and the withheld increments are allowed from the date you "actually passes the departmental confirmation examination in full", that date being "the first day of the written examination in which he passes and not from the date on which he became due" | 7(4) |
| After every chance is used | "loss of appointment in the case of directly recruited officers and reversion to the lower post in the case of others" | 7(5) |
| Is this a penalty? | Withholding increments is not a penalty under rule 11 of the CCS (CCA) Rules | 7, Note 1 |
| How a probationer is terminated | Under the CCS (CCA) Rules procedure, not the CCS (Temporary Service) Rules | 7, Note 2 |
The increment rule is exact about dates. Suppose your increments stop because your deadline passes. You then complete the exam at a sitting whose written papers begin on a given day. Rule 7(4) allows the next increment and the withheld increments with effect from that first day, not from the day the result is declared, and expressly "not from the date on which he became due". The words "in full" in the rule describe passing the whole exam, not the increments. So on the rule's own words there is nothing owed for the months between the date an increment fell due and that first day; how your pay is refixed from then on is for your pay and accounts office. Because withholding is not a penalty (Note 1), it is not a disciplinary proceeding and does not go on your record as one.
Rule 7(5) is the hard end, and it is not a threat on a notice board: it is printed in the Gazette. After the last Board-approved chance, a direct recruit loses the appointment, and a promotee goes back to the lower post. The forwarding letter for the February 2026 sitting also cites the DoPT Master Circular on probation and confirmation, O.M. No. 28020/3/2018-Estt.(C) dated 11.03.2019. We have not read that circular, so we do not quote it.
Exemptions that shorten the list: rule 8
| Exemption | Detail | Rule |
|---|---|---|
| Papers you passed | In later attempts you sit only the papers you failed | 8(2) |
| A pass in a lower grade | Carries over on promotion, unless the exemption was conditional | 8(1) |
| Ministerial officer promoted to Inspector | If you passed the ministerial exam, you need only Paper-IV (Law), within 1 year of promotion; you may take it before promotion, without "any special advantage for promotion" | 8(1) proviso (ii) |
| Ministerial officer promoted to PO or Examiner | Paper-I (Customs and Allied Law), within 1 year of promotion | 8(1) proviso (iii) |
| Law degree | An officer with a degree in law from a recognised institution "shall not be required to pass the test in that paper"; for Inspectors, Paper-IV (Law) on our reading | 8(3) |
| Hindi, matriculation route | Matriculation or an equivalent or higher exam with Hindi as one of the subjects; the Commissioner may exempt; not available if you offered Hindi as an optional subject and failed it | 8(4) |
| Hindi, Intermediate route | First-year Intermediate Arts with Hindi as a compulsory subject | 8(5) |
| Hindi, Pragya route | The Pragya examination; the Commissioner may exempt | 8(6) |
| Board exemption | The Board may exempt an officer in whole or in part, for special reasons recorded in writing | 8(7) |
| Relaxation | The Central Government may relax any provision of the rules | 9 |
Rules 8(7) and 9 are not chances. They are powers the Board and the Government may use in a particular case, for reasons they record. Do not plan around them.
What to do now
A short list, whatever stage you are at
- Ask your Cadre Controlling Authority for your record: your date of appointment, the sittings counted against you, the papers passed, and any exemptions entered.
- If your deadline is close, get your Hindi and law-degree exemptions recorded before the next requisition goes to NACIN. They take papers off the list.
- If you need an additional chance, apply before the Commissionerate's application date for the sitting. In Bengaluru that was 23.01.2026 for the February 2026 sitting, a week before requisitions were due at NACIN.
- Sit every paper you owe at every sitting you are nominated for. A paper you skip counts as failed and still uses the chance.
- Keep a copy of every result letter. The first day of the written exam at which you complete the whole exam decides when your increments are allowed again.
The six Inspector papers are covered in our Inspector papers guide. The Preventive Officer and Examiner papers, including what you still owe if you started under the 2008 rules, are in our PO and Examiner guide. The promotion exam to Inspector runs on the same rules but has its own timetable.
How many chances do I get in the CBIC departmental exam?
Every sitting held in your two-year period (rule 6(1)), then up to five more: two from the Commissioner, one from the Chief Commissioner, and two with Board approval, which are final. At two sittings a year that is about nine in all, but that total is our arithmetic; the rules do not print one.
Does a paper I skip count as a chance?
Yes. You may take the papers in parts, but a paper you do not appear in is treated as failed (rule 6, Note 1).
Will my increments stop?
Yes, if you have not passed within the rule 5 period. The next increment and the withheld ones are allowed from the first day of the written exam in which you pass the exam in full (rule 7(3) and 7(4)). Withholding them is not a penalty under the CCS (CCA) Rules.
Are the withheld increments paid as arrears?
Rule 7(4) allows them from the first day of the written exam in which you pass, "and not from the date on which he became due", so on its words the months before that first day are not paid. Ask your pay and accounts office how your pay is refixed from that date.
Can I lose my job for failing the departmental exam?
Yes. Rule 7(5) provides for loss of appointment for a direct recruit, and reversion to the lower post for others, once every chance is used. A probationer is terminated under the CCS (CCA) procedure.
Who grants an additional chance?
The Principal Commissioner or Commissioner grants the first two, the Principal Chief or Chief Commissioner the third, and the Chief Commissioner with the Board's approval the last two (rule 6(2) to 6(4)).
How long is probation for a direct-recruit Inspector?
It is not stated in the exam rules or in any notice we read. It would be in the Recruitment Rules or your offer of appointment.
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 — 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, 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 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 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 — 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: 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.
