SSC Havaldar (CBIC & CBN): PET/PST Standards, CCA Choice, Cut-offs

The SSC MTS exam also recruits Havaldars for the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) and the Central Bureau of Narcotics (CBN). The written test is the same, but Havaldar candidates must also pass a physical test and are allotted not to a state but to a Cadre Controlling Authority (CCA) — a customs or GST zone — where they serve for their whole career. This guide sets out the physical standards, how the shortlist works, the CCA-wise cut-offs for 2024 and 2025, and the vacancies by CCA.

SSC MTS 2025 notice; vacancy file 27.11.2025.

The PET/PST is conducted by CBIC or CBN at their own centres, and a candidate can be called to any centre in India. It is qualifying only — the final Havaldar merit is on Session-II normalised marks — and failing it removes a candidate from the Havaldar list only: they stay in the running for MTS.

After the written test, SSC shortlists Havaldar candidates for PET/PST in the ratio of 1 vacancy to 7 candidates, CCA by CCA and category by category, on Session-II normalised marks. In 2024, 27,011 were shortlisted for 3,439 vacancies; SSC’s final result reports that 21,746 appeared at the PET/PST and 20,959 qualified. In 2025, 7,126 were shortlisted in the five community categories (EWS, SC, ST, OBC, UR) against the 1,018 vacancies SSC’s result lists in those columns — seven to one — plus 945 in the ex-servicemen and PwBD columns, 8,071 in all (our sum; SSC’s 2024 total of 27,011 adds its columns the same way). The 1,018 is not the 1,138 of the 27.11.2025 vacancy file, and SSC has not reconciled the two. After PET/PST, the list is cut down to the vacancies, which is why final Havaldar cut-offs are higher than the shortlisting ones (Pune CGST UR: 130.03 at shortlist, 138.56 final, in 2024).

The spread is wide. In 2025, Delhi CGST needed 142.36 for UR while Mumbai Customs — with 491 of the 1,138 posts — shortlisted down to 107.98. Mumbai Customs moved the other way from most CCAs between the two years; it also has by far the most vacancies. For a Havaldar aspirant, the CCA preference is the most important choice on the form.

In every CCA with a final UR line, the final line sat above the shortlist line, by 2.78 marks (Lucknow CGST) to 12.05 (Visakhapatnam Customs) — our arithmetic from the table — because seven candidates are called per post and only one is selected. A 2025 shortlist cut-off is therefore a floor, not a target: to be selected, a candidate needs to be well above it.

For the walking test, the notice says candidates with some locomotor disabilities — one leg affected (OL), one arm and one leg (OAL) and leprosy cured (LC) — “may be exempted from Walking”; hearing-impaired (HH) and one-arm (OA) candidates get no exemption, and acid-attack victims only if the disability is orthopaedic. PwBD suitability for Havaldar is decided post by post: in 2024, 198 PwD candidates were found not suitable for Havaldar under the notice’s benchmark-disability rules (2024 final result, para 10).

The notice is explicit: a Havaldar is allotted to a CCA of CBIC and must serve the whole career in that CCA, subject to any restructuring. The notice adds that the jurisdiction of the Directorate General of Performance Management (DGPM) is all of India, so a candidate allotted DGPM can be posted anywhere; CBN is headquartered at Gwalior with offices at Neemuch, Lucknow and Kota. Candidates may also need to acquire the local language of the allotted area for confirmation. A low-cut-off CCA far from home is therefore a lifetime decision, not a stepping stone.