Checked 29 September 2026. From the 1994 amendment to the PS Group B Recruitment Rules as cited in the notification of 02.01.2023, the one in force for the last sitting after the Department restored it in December 2025. A notified revision of the Recruitment Rules, or the next notification, would override this page. The 2024 draft would remove the exam altogether.
The PS Group B LDCE has two separate doors, and each has its own quota and its own five-year test. Under the Recruitment Rules as amended in 1994, 19% of Postal Service Group 'B' vacancies go through the exam to Inspectors of Post Offices and Inspectors RMS (the notifications add Assistant Superintendents of Posts), and 6% go to clerical-line officials in LSG and above. The other 75% are filled by seniority promotion of Inspectors with eight years' service. This guide sets out who fits each door, how the service is counted, the junior-senior clause, the cases that get no relaxation, and a checker that applies the published rules to your own dates.
Where other pages get this wrong
The exam is open to two groups: Inspector Posts and ASPs with five years from joining the IP cadre, and clerical-line officials in Post Offices or Divisional Offices with five years in LSG and above. Postal Assistants holding only a TBOP, BCR or MACP upgradation are not eligible.
Commonly published instead: Descriptions that mention only Inspectors and ASPs (the exam's own record on this site did), or that treat the 2024 Recruitment Rules as notified.
Para 3 of the notification of 02.01.2023 (reported), and of the later notice of 21.11.2023 (official, since quashed), sets out both lines and the TBOP/BCR/MACP exclusion, citing the 1993 Amendment Rules published on 29.06.1994. The 2024 rules are a draft circulated for comments, covered in our guide to the promotion ladder.
PS Group B Recruitment (Amendment) Rules 1993, G.S.R. 329 of 29.06.1994 (official). The rule names Inspectors; ASPs are added by the notifications.
How PS Group B posts are filled under the 1994 rules
| Route | Share | Who | Service needed | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Promotion by seniority | 75% | Inspectors of Post Offices and Inspectors RMS | 8 years regular service | G.S.R. 329, 1994 (official) |
| LDCE, IP line | 19% | The same Inspectors; the notifications add Assistant Superintendents of Posts | 5 years regular service from joining the IP cadre | G.S.R. 329, 1994 (official); notification of 02.01.2023 para 3(1) (reported) |
| LDCE, clerical line | 6% | Clerical-line officials working in Post Offices or Divisional Offices | 5 years regular service in LSG and above | G.S.R. 329, 1994 (official); notification of 02.01.2023 para 3(2) (reported) |
The principal rules are the Postal Superintendent/Postmasters Group 'B' Recruitment Rules 1987, published as G.S.R. 280 of 09.04.1988. The 1993 Amendment Rules, published on 29.06.1994, renamed the cadre Postal Service Group 'B' and set the 75/19/6 split. Every notification since has cited that amendment as the basis of eligibility.
The IP line in detail
The IP line is for Inspector Posts and Assistant Superintendents of Posts. The five years run from the date of joining the IP cadre, not from the date of becoming an ASP, so an ASP counts the Inspector years too. The notification counts regular service; on our reading, ad-hoc or officiating service is not what the rule measures. Inspectors RMS are named in the 1994 rule alongside Inspectors of Post Offices.
Two groups within the IP line were singled out in Note 2 of the notice of 21.11.2023, which was later quashed. For officials placed in the IP seniority list on concessional grounds through the Army Postal Service, it said no benefit of the junior-senior clause would be considered. For officials transferred under Rule 38 of Postal Manual Volume IV, it said the transfer itself is not a ground for relaxing the qualifying service. Neither note bars anyone who has the full five years, and neither appears in the notification of 02.01.2023, which the Department restored; that notification applies the junior-senior memo of 26.12.2019 "followed by clarification issued on 18.11.2020", a clarification we have not seen. Whether the next notification repeats Note 2 is not known.
The clerical line in detail
The clerical line is for officials of the clerical cadre who hold LSG or a higher grade, which the 2020 notification spelled out as Higher Selection Grade-I, Higher Selection Grade-II and Lower Selection Grade, with five years' regular service in any or all of the three together. The 2023 notification says the same in shorter words: five years in LSG and above.
The exclusion that trips people is the time-bound upgradation. A Postal or Sorting Assistant placed in the TBOP, BCR or MACP scale has had a financial upgradation, not a promotion into LSG, and the notifications say such officials are not entitled to appear. The line is about the grade you were promoted to, not the pay you draw.
The 1994 text names officials working in Post Offices or Divisional Offices. It does not name RMS offices, Circle Offices or other units. We found no DoP clarification. On our reading RMS clerical staff are outside the 6% quota, and one union writer says the same, but that is an interpretation, not a ruling; ask your Divisional Office before you apply.
The crucial date: the start of each vacancy year
Service is counted up to a crucial date printed in each notification for each vacancy year. In both cycles we could read, that date was the first day of the vacancy year. Since vacancy years became calendar years from 2019, that means 1 January; the short vacancy year 2018 (April to December) used 1 April.
| Vacancy year | Crucial date | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 2017-18 (01.04.2017 to 31.03.2018) | Not required: the notification listed no vacancy | Notification of 28.09.2020, crucial-date table (reported, PO Tools image) |
| 2018 (01.04.2018 to 31.12.2018) | 01.04.2018 | Same (reported) |
| 2019 | 01.01.2019 | Same (reported) |
| 2020 | 01.01.2020 | Same (reported) |
| 2021, 2022, 2023 | 01.01.2021, 01.01.2022, 01.01.2023 | Notification of 02.01.2023 para 4 (reported); same in the notice of 21.11.2023 (official) |
| 2024, 2025, 2026 | Not published: the notification has not been issued | Deferment letter of 23.06.2026 (official) |
The practical point is that service after 1 January does not count for that year's vacancies. Someone who joined the IP cadre in July 2021 has four years and six months on 1 January 2026, and would need the junior-senior clause for vacancy year 2026 if the next notification keeps the same convention (our arithmetic; the convention is not yet published for 2024 to 2026). An earlier version of this page said the 2020 notification counted to 31 December; the notification's own table shows it did not.
The junior-senior clause and the other relaxations
| Case | Rule | Source |
|---|---|---|
| A junior Inspector has completed the qualifying service | A senior may appear if short by no more than half the qualifying service or two years, whichever is less, and has completed probation along with the junior. For a 5-year requirement that is 2 years (our arithmetic: half of 5 is 2.5, and 2 is less). | Notification of 02.01.2023, applying DoP memo 9-36/2019-SPG-II of 26.12.2019 and the clarification of 18.11.2020 (reported); same wording in the 2020 notification (reported) |
| The same situation in the clerical line | Not stated. Both notifications we read word the clause for junior Inspectors of Post. The quashed notice of 21.11.2023 used general words ("juniors"), but it no longer governs anything. | Notifications of 28.09.2020 and 02.01.2023 (reported); notice of 21.11.2023 Note 1 (official) |
| Seniority on concessional grounds through APS | No benefit of the junior-senior clause, under the notice of 21.11.2023; not in the notification of 02.01.2023 | Notice of 21.11.2023, Note 2(a) (official, since quashed) |
| Transferred under Rule 38 of Postal Manual Volume IV | The transfer is not a ground for relaxing qualifying service, under the notice of 21.11.2023; the 18.11.2020 clarification is cited but was not seen | Notice of 21.11.2023, Note 2(b) (official, since quashed) |
| Any other case seeking relaxation | The notice of 21.11.2023 sent these to ADG (SPG) within 15 days of the closing date and gave Circles no power to relax. That notice was quashed; whether the next notification keeps the route is not known. | Notice of 21.11.2023, Note 3 (official, since quashed) |
| On deputation to the Army Postal Service | Same conditions apply. Candidates sit at their parent civil Circle. | Notification of 02.01.2023 paras 5 and 8 (reported) |
Check your eligibility
PS Group B LDCE eligibility checker
Choose your line, enter the date your qualifying service began, and pick a vacancy year. The checker counts completed months to 1 January of that year, the crucial-date convention of the notification of 02.01.2023 (the 2020 notification used 01.04.2018 for vacancy year 2018), then applies the five-year rule, the junior-senior clause and the published exclusions. The crucial date for 2024 onwards is not yet published, so the result is conditional. It is our reading of the 1994 rule as notified on 02.01.2023, not a decision by your Circle.
Our reading of G.S.R. 329 (1994), the notification of 02.01.2023 and, for the APS case, Note 2 of the quashed notice of 21.11.2023. Service must be regular service. The 2024 draft Recruitment Rules, if notified as circulated, would remove the LDCE.
For readers without JavaScript, this is how the checker decides for common situations. Each row assumes five or more years of regular service unless it says otherwise.
| Your situation | Eligible? | Basis |
|---|---|---|
| Inspector Posts, 5 years from joining the IP cadre | Yes, IP line | Para 3(1), notification of 02.01.2023 (reported) |
| ASP who spent 2 years as Inspector and 3 as ASP | Yes, IP line: the 5 years run from joining the IP cadre | Para 3(1) (reported); the sum is ours |
| Inspector with 3 years 6 months, a junior already eligible, probation done | Can be allowed under the junior-senior clause (short by 1 year 6 months) | Notification of 02.01.2023 (reported); our arithmetic |
| Inspector with 2 years 6 months, a junior already eligible | No: short by 2 years 6 months, more than the clause allows | Notification of 02.01.2023 (reported); our arithmetic |
| Inspector placed in seniority through APS on concessional grounds, short of 5 years | No junior-senior benefit under the quashed notice of 21.11.2023; not addressed by the 02.01.2023 notification | Note 2(a) of 21.11.2023 (official, since quashed) |
| LSG official in a Post Office, 5 years in LSG | Yes, clerical line | Para 3(2) (reported) |
| HSG-II official with 2 years in LSG and 3 in HSG-II | Yes, clerical line: service in the grades counts together | 2020 notification wording (reported); 2023 "LSG and above" (reported) |
| PA with a MACP upgradation but no LSG promotion | No | Note under para 3 (reported; same in the notice of 21.11.2023, official) |
| LSG official in an RMS office | Unclear; RMS is not named in the 1994 rule | G.S.R. 329 text (official); our reading; union commentary (reported) |
| Official on deputation to APS | Same conditions; sit at the parent civil Circle | Paras 5 and 8 (reported) |
The HSG-I question and the missing 2025 draft
A union blog post of January 2026 says a "Revised RR 2025" draft, circulated in August 2025, would let HSG-I officials with five years sit the exam. We could not find that draft on any DoP site or elsewhere, so we cannot tell you what it says. Until a notification changes it, the rule in force is the one every notification has cited: the clerical line is open to LSG and above with five years.
The larger uncertainty is the draft of 11.11.2024, which would fill every PS Group B post by seniority promotion and drop both LDCE lines. It has not been notified, and DoP's own calendars still schedule an LDCE. Our guide to the promotion ladder and the draft rules puts both sides.
How you apply when it is notified
The notification of 02.01.2023, which governed the last sitting, took applications online at ccc.cept.gov.in/GroupBapplication from 04.01.2023 to 18.01.2023 at 5:30 pm, with a signed hard copy to the parent office, a correction window, and admit cards about ten days before the exam (reported). APS applicants went through their Circle's nodal officer. The re-notification of 21.11.2023 used the same route for 04.12.2023 to 05.01.2024; it was kept in abeyance on 12.01.2024 and later quashed, and a DoP letter of 04.01.2024 about it is cited in the abeyance order but was not seen. No application fee was mentioned in any notification we read, and neither was an age limit or a limit on attempts; we print all three as not published rather than assume there are none. Treat these dates as a pattern, not a schedule.
Who is eligible for the PS Group B LDCE?
Inspector Posts and Assistant Superintendents with five years regular service from joining the IP cadre (19% quota), and clerical-line officials in Post Offices or Divisional Offices with five years regular service in LSG and above (6% quota).
Can a PA with MACP sit the PS Group B exam?
No. The notifications say Postal and Sorting Assistants in TBOP, BCR or MACP scales hold only a financial upgradation and are not entitled to appear.
Can HSG-I officials sit the exam?
Yes, under the clerical line, if they have five years in LSG and above counted together. A reported 2025 draft about HSG-I could not be found.
Can LSG officials in RMS sit the exam?
Unclear. The 1994 rule names Post Offices and Divisional Offices only, and no DoP clarification was found. Ask your Divisional Office.
What is the crucial date for eligibility?
The first day of each vacancy year: 1 January for 2019 to 2023, and 1 April for the short vacancy year 2018. The crucial date for 2024 to 2026 will be in the next notification, which has not been issued.
Does ASP service count towards the five years?
Yes. The five years run from the date of joining the IP cadre, so Inspector and ASP service both count.
Is there an age limit or an attempt limit?
Not published. None of the notifications we read states an age limit, a fee or a limit on attempts.
Can the Circle relax the eligibility conditions?
The notice of 21.11.2023 said no, and sent other relaxation cases to ADG (SPG) at the Directorate within 15 days of the closing date. That notice was later quashed, and the notification of 02.01.2023 has no such note, so the next notification will settle it.
Sources
- reported — Postalstudy: notification A-34012/03/2022-DE dated 02.01.2023, vacancy years 2021 to 2023, exam 12.02.2023
- official — DoP F. No. A-34013/02/2023-DE dated 26.12.2025: result of the PS Group B LDCE held on 04.06.2023 (vacancy years 2021 to 2023), declared strictly under the notification of 02.01.2023 after CAT Ernakulam (OA 604/2023, orders of 27.09.2024 and 12.11.2025) quashed both letters of 21.11.2023; records that letter A-34013/02/2023-DE(ii) of 11.12.2025 restored the 02.01.2023 notification
- official — Assam Circle Staff/8-49/2024 dated 22.11.2023 forwarding DoP Notification A-34012/04/2023-DE (II) dated 21.11.2023 (later quashed by CAT Ernakulam), with SPG-II letter 9-04/2018-SPG-II dated 05.09.2019 (pattern and syllabus), its corrigendum, and Gazette G.S.R. 329 dated 29.06.1994 (Wayback copy)
- reported — PO Tools: notification A-34012/10/2019-DE dated 28.09.2020, vacancy years 2017-18 to 2020, exam 08.11.2020
- reported — StaffNews: DoP order A-34012/04/2023-DE dated 12.01.2024 keeping the LDCE for vacancy years 2021 to 2023 in abeyance (CAT Jaipur OA 639/2023)
- official — DoP (DE Section) F. No. DE-12/4/2026-DE-DoP dated 23.06.2026: LDCE for PS Group B, vacancy years 2024 to 2026, notification and examination deferred
- reported — SAPosts: eligibility of LSG officials for the PS Group B exam (Jan 2026; cites an August 2025 draft we could not find)
- reported — DoP (SPG-II) OM F. No. 9-14/2010-SPG (Vol.II) dated 11.11.2024: draft revision of the PS Group B Recruitment Rules, comments within 30 days. Official DoP content, but the only copy we found is hosted by the FNPO federation, not a DoP server
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.
