Checked 29 September 2026. From SPG-II letter 9-04/2018-SPG-II of 05.09.2019 and its corrigendum, cited by the notification of 02.01.2023 (the one the Department restored in December 2025) and enclosed with the later, quashed notice of 21.11.2023. A new notification or a revised syllabus would override this page; neither had been issued on 29 September 2026.
The Limited Departmental Competitive Examination for promotion to Postal Service Group 'B' is the exam that lets an Inspector Posts or Assistant Superintendent, or a clerical-line official in LSG and above, reach a gazetted Group B post in India Post ahead of seniority. Its pattern has not changed since the Department of Posts set it out in SPG-II letter No. 9-04/2018-SPG-II dated 05.09.2019, and both notifications for the last sitting cited it: the notification of 02.01.2023, which governed the exam of 04.06.2023, and a re-notification of 21.11.2023 that enclosed it and was later quashed. The next cycle, for vacancy years 2024 to 2026, was deferred on 23.06.2026 and has no notification yet. This guide gives the pattern exactly as that letter prints it, lists every syllabus head in both papers, and marks the rules the 2019 list names that have since been replaced, so you know where the printed list and the law have drifted apart.
Where other pages get this wrong
The PS Group B LDCE is two papers of 300 marks each, three hours each, both without books. Paper-I is 125 MCQs plus noting and drafting of 25 marks each; Paper-II is 150 MCQs.
Commonly published instead: Pages that say paper-wise marks and durations are "not stated" in the departmental documents (an earlier version of our own notice board said this), or that describe the three-paper pattern of the Inspector Posts LDCE as if it applied here.
The "Revised Pattern for the promotion to PS Group B cadre" enclosed with SPG-II letter 9-04/2018-SPG-II of 05.09.2019 sets all of this out, and the notifications of 02.01.2023 and 21.11.2023 both cite it. The IP LDCE was restructured in 2025; we found no equivalent change for PS Group B.
SPG-II letter 9-04/2018-SPG-II of 05.09.2019, Revised Pattern (official).
The pattern in one table
| Item | Paper-I | Paper-II | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Marks | 300 | 300 | 2019 SPG-II letter, Revised Pattern (official) |
| Duration | 3 hours | 3 hours | 2019 SPG-II letter (official) |
| Questions | 125 MCQs, plus Noting (25 marks) and Drafting (25 marks) | 150 MCQs | 2019 SPG-II letter (official) |
| Marks per MCQ | 2 (our arithmetic: 250 marks left after noting and drafting, over 125 questions) | 2 (our arithmetic: 300 over 150) | Our arithmetic from the official pattern |
| Books | Without books | Without books | 2019 SPG-II letter (official) |
| Timing on the day (last notified) | 10:00 am to 1:00 pm | 2:00 pm to 5:00 pm | Notification of 02.01.2023 (reported), which governed the 04.06.2023 sitting; same timings in the quashed notice of 21.11.2023 (official). A notification sets these, not the 2019 pattern. |
| Qualifying standard | 40% in each paper and 45% overall (General); 33% and 38% (SC/ST) | Same rule applies to both papers | 2019 SPG-II letter (official) |
| Negative marking | Not published | Not published | Not in any document we read |
| Mode | OMR based, and descriptive wherever applicable | OMR based | Notification of 02.01.2023, para 9 (reported); same words in the notice of 21.11.2023 (official) |
From the 2019 Revised Pattern (official). The 250 MCQ marks in Paper-I are what is left of 300 after the two 25-mark descriptive parts; the split is our arithmetic.
Two things in that table deserve a second look. First, the select lists published in August 2026 show exactly the columns the pattern implies: Paper-I (MCQ), Paper-I (Descriptive), Paper-II, and a total (nominally out of 600; the June 2023 sitting was revised to 564 after dropped questions). On our reading, the pattern was in force at the 2020 and 2023 sittings, not just on paper. Second, nothing we read states whether wrong answers cost marks. The pattern is silent, the notifications are silent, and so is the result letter. We print it as not published rather than guess; the answer sheet instructions on the day are what will settle it.
Noting and drafting are the only written parts of the whole exam, and at 50 marks they carry a sixth of Paper-I. A candidate who is quick at MCQs but has never practised noting and drafting is giving that sixth away. The pattern does not say what kind of draft is set; the syllabus places noting and drafting under Paper-I alongside Office Procedure, where the Manual of Office Procedure and Postal Manual Volume II Chapter XI are named.
Paper-I: postal operations, business and management
Paper-I is the operational paper. It tests how a post office, a division and a circle actually run: counter products, mail processing, remittances, savings schemes, insurance, procurement and establishment work. The heads below are the ones the 2019 letter prints, in its order.
| Head | What the 2019 letter lists |
|---|---|
| Acts | Consumer Protection Act (read as 2019 after the corrigendum); Prevention of Money Laundering Act 2002 |
| Inland and foreign post | Indian Post Office Rules 1933; Post Office Guide Parts I and II; Directorate guidelines; Book of BO Rules |
| Mail operations | Postal Manual Volume V; MNOP, PNOP and Business Development guidelines |
| Money remittance | eMO, iMO, IMTS and IFS money orders |
| Savings Bank and certificates | POSB General Rules 1981; POSA Rules 1981; RD and TD Rules 1981; MIS 1987; NSC 1960; SCSS 2004; NSC VIII Issue 1989; KVP 2014; PPF 1968; SSY 2014 (most of these were rescinded in December 2019: see below); POSB Manual Volumes I and II; SB orders from 01.01.2007; CBS guidelines; POSB (CBS) Manual |
| PLI and RPLI | Post Office Life Insurance Rules 2011; CIS guidelines |
| Organisation | Postal Manual Volume II Chapter I; Citizen Charter; grievance handling; IT Modernisation; philately handbook and instructions |
| Office procedure | Postal Manual Volume II Chapter XI; Manual of Office Procedure; Annual Report and Book of Information |
| Material management | Postal Manual Volume II Chapters VI, VIII, IX and XII; GFR 2017 Chapter 6; CVC guidelines on procurement; Ministry of Finance procurement manual |
| Establishment | Postal Manual Volume IV; APAR; Schedule of Financial Powers; welfare measures for employees and GDS; DoPT establishment instructions; reservation brochure, sports quota and compassionate appointment; Recruitment Rules of DoP cadres; Establishment Norms |
| Current affairs | 15 questions for 30 marks |
| Noting and drafting | 25 marks each |
Paper-II: service rules, finance and allied law
Paper-II is the rules paper, and it is long: the 2019 letter names 34 items. We have grouped them below for reading; the grouping is ours, the items are the letter's.
| Group (ours) | Items named in the 2019 letter |
|---|---|
| Conduct and discipline | CCS (Conduct) Rules 1964; CCS (CCA) Rules 1965; Postal Manual Volume III; CCS (Temporary Service) Rules 1965; brochure on casual labourers; GDS (Conduct and Engagement) Rules 2011; Prevention of Corruption Act 1988 as amended in 2018; POSH Act 2013 |
| Pay, leave and retirement | CCS (Pension) Rules 1972; NPS 2004; CCS (Commutation of Pension) Rules 1981; CCS (Leave) Rules 1972; CCS (Joining Time) Rules 1979; GPF (CS) Rules 1960; CS (MA) Rules 1944; FR and SR; CCS (LTC) Rules 1988; CCS (RP) Rules 2016; CEA and hostel subsidy; CGEGIS 1980; CCS (RSA) Rules 1993 |
| Finance | Postal Financial Handbook Volumes I and II; GFR 2017 (other than procurement); GST Act 2017; Public Accountants Default Act 1850; Revenue Recovery Act 1890 |
| Tribunals and information | Administrative Tribunals Act 1985 and its rules; RTI Act 2005 and RTI Rules 2012 |
| Postal administration | Postal Manual Volume II Chapters III, IV, V and VII; IPPB interfaces; preservation and disposal of records; Swachh Bharat; inspection questionnaires; CSI operating manuals |
Several of these carry their own guides on this site, written for the Inspector Posts LDCE but covering the same rule books: the CCS (Conduct) Rules 1964, the CCS (CCA) Rules 1965, the POSH Act 2013 and IPPB for departmental exams. The questions there were set for the IP LDCE, so read them for the rules, not as a model of this exam's paper.
What the 2019 list names that has since been replaced
The syllabus letter is from September 2019 and no revised PS Group B syllabus has been issued since, as far as we could find. Meanwhile several of the rule books it names have been replaced. The table separates what the Department itself corrected from what is our own reading.
| Named in the 2019 letter | Now | Who says so |
|---|---|---|
| Consumer Protection Act 1986 | Read as the Consumer Protection Act 2019 | The corrigendum to the 2019 letter (official) |
| Prevention of Corruption Act "1890" | Read as the Prevention of Corruption Act 1988 with its 2018 amendment | The corrigendum (official) |
| POSA Rules 1981; RD and TD Rules 1981; MIS 1987; NSC VIII Issue 1989; SCSS 2004; KVP 2014; Sukanya Samriddhi (the letter says 2014; the rules in force in 2019 were of 2016) | Rescinded by G.S.R. 912(E) of 12.12.2019 and replaced the same day by the corresponding 2019 schemes (POSA, NS Recurring Deposit, NS Time Deposit, NS Monthly Income Account, NSC VIII Issue, SCSS, KVP and SSA Schemes 2019) | G.S.R. 912(E), official, as published by the National Savings Institute; the syllabus has not been amended |
| PPF 1968 | Rescinded by G.S.R. 913(E) of 12.12.2019; replaced by the PPF Scheme 2019 | G.S.R. 913(E) (official); the syllabus has not been amended |
| CCS (Pension) Rules 1972 | Replaced by the CCS (Pension) Rules 2021 | Our reading; the syllabus has not been amended |
| GDS (Conduct and Engagement) Rules 2011 | Replaced by the GDS (Conduct and Engagement) Rules 2020 | Our reading; the syllabus has not been amended |
| Indian Post Office Rules 1933 | The Post Office Act 2023 and the Post Office Rules 2024 replaced the 1898 Act and its rules | Our reading; the syllabus has not been amended |
The letter carries its own answer to drift. Both papers include circulars, orders, guidelines and rules issued up to 31 December of the year before the exam, and the Annual Report and Book of Information are taken at the latest version on the India Post website. The clause names circulars, orders, guidelines and rules, not Acts or schemes. On our reading, it brings the 2021 pension rules, the 2020 GDS rules and the Post Office Rules 2024 into scope without the list naming them. It does not by its words bring in the Post Office Act 2023 or the 2019 savings schemes; those replace items the list does name, so we would study them, but the documents do not settle that they are examinable. We would not drop the old titles from revision either: the list is what the paper setter holds. For the new Act, our Post Office Act 2023 summary is a start.
| Question | Answer on the documents | Status |
|---|---|---|
| When was the corrigendum issued? | Not settled. The quashed notice of 21.11.2023 says the 2019 letter was "followed by letter … dated 10.12.2019". The notification of 02.01.2023 and a 2022 SPG-II letter, both reproduced by Postalstudy, date it 30.12.2019. The corrigendum itself, in the scanned enclosure, has an illegible date and a receipt stamp reading January 2020. | Conflict, printed as found |
| Was the syllabus revised in 2022? | No revision was found. SPG-II letter 9-40/2021-SPG-II of 18.08.2022 only asked Divisions for inputs on amending it. | Reported (Postalstudy reproduction) |
| Was it revised in December 2025? | A December 2025 post on PO Tools titled as a revision reproduces the 2019 letter. It is not a new syllabus. | Reported |
Track your preparation
PS Group B syllabus tracker
Tick each head as you finish a first full reading. The heads are the 2019 letter's; Paper-II is grouped as in the table above.
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How this exam differs from the IP LDCE
The two India Post LDCEs are easy to confuse because they share much of their reading list. The Inspector Posts LDCE takes Postal and Sorting Assistants and others up to Inspector Posts at Level 7, and was restructured into three papers by a DoP letter of 22.08.2025. The PS Group B LDCE takes Inspectors and ASPs (and a small clerical-line quota) up to a gazetted Level 9 post, and still runs on the two-paper 2019 pattern. Marks, papers and scope dates do not carry across, so do not prepare for one from the other's notice.
How many papers are there in the PS Group B LDCE?
Two. Each carries 300 marks and lasts three hours. Paper-I is 125 MCQs plus noting and drafting for 25 marks each; Paper-II is 150 MCQs.
Are books allowed in the PS Group B exam?
No. The 2019 pattern says both papers are without books.
Is there negative marking?
Not published. None of the pattern, the notifications or the result letters we read mention it.
What is the syllabus cut-off date for circulars?
Circulars, orders, guidelines and rules issued up to 31 December of the year before the exam are in scope. The Annual Report and Book of Information are taken at their latest version on the India Post website.
Has the PS Group B syllabus been revised since 2019?
No revision was found. A 2022 letter asked for inputs, and a December 2025 blog post reposted the 2019 letter. The notifications of 02.01.2023 and 21.11.2023 both cited the 2019 letter.
Does the syllabus include the Post Office Act 2023?
Not by name. The 2019 list names the Indian Post Office Rules 1933. On our reading, the Post Office Rules 2024 come in through the clause covering rules issued up to 31 December of the year before the exam; that clause does not mention Acts, so the documents do not settle whether the Act itself is examinable. We would study it.
How many marks does current affairs carry?
Fifteen questions for 30 marks, in Paper-I.
Are both papers on the same day?
The 2019 pattern does not say. The notifications of 02.01.2023 and 21.11.2023 each put Paper-I from 10 am to 1 pm and Paper-II from 2 pm to 5 pm on one Sunday. The next notification will fix the schedule.
Where are previous question papers available?
The Department does not publish an archive that we could find. Provisional answer keys for the 04.06.2023 sitting were circulated in June 2023 and reproduced by postal blogs.
Sources
- 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)
- 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 — DoP F. No. A-34013/01/2026-DE dated 06.08.2026: revised and recast results of the PS Group B LDCE, vacancy years 2016-17 to 2023, with select lists (Annex A to G)
- 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
- official — National Savings Institute: G.S.R. 912(E) and 913(E) dated 12.12.2019 rescinding the POSA, NSTD, NSRD, MIS, NSC VIII, SCSS, KVP and SSA rules and the PPF Scheme 1968
- reported — Postalstudy: notification A-34012/03/2022-DE dated 02.01.2023, vacancy years 2021 to 2023, exam 12.02.2023
- reported — Postalstudy: SPG-II letter 9-40/2021-SPG-II dated 18.08.2022, review of the PS Group B syllabus (request for inputs)
- reported — PO Tools: December 2025 repost of the 2019 PS Group B syllabus (not a new revision)
- reported — Postalstudy: provisional answer keys, A-34013/02/2023-DE dated 21.06.2023
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.
