CSS Exam Rule and Regulations

Introduction As Per CSS Rules 2019

  1. No candidate shall be eligible for admission to the competitive examination unless he is neither below the age of twenty-one years nor above the age of thirty years on the cut-off date.

    Explanation: A candidate born on or before the 31st day of December, 1988 and on or after the 2nd day of January, 1998 shall not be eligible for the competitive examination of the year 2019.

  2. Two years relaxation in upper-age limit of a candidate shall be admissible in respect of the following categories, namely:
    1. The candidates belonging to the scheduled caste and Buddhist community subject to production of a certificate, as set out in the application form prescribed by the Commission from time to time and issued by authorized officers.
    2. The candidates belonging to the recognized Tribes who are permanent residents of the areas mentioned below and whose families have been living there:
      1. Baluchistan
      2. Tribal Areas of D.I.Khan and Peshawar Divisions (including former Frontier States of Dir, Swat, Chitral and Amb)
      3. Former excluded (Baloch) area forming part of Dera Ghazi Khan and Rajanpur Districts
      4. Former Tribal Areas of Mardan and Hazara Divisions
      5. Upper Tanawal Area of Hazara Division
    3. The candidates who are permanent residents of Azad Kashmir Territory, with valid certification.
    4. The candidates who are permanent residents of Gilgit-Baltistan including Gilgit, Diamir, Baltistan, Ghizer and Guanche, with certification.
    5. Special candidates (physically impaired, hearing/speech impaired, visually impaired), with disability certificate issued by relevant authorities.
    6. In-service Government servants, armed forces personnel, contract employees (including AJK), with at least two years of continuous service and departmental permission. Employees of nationalized banks, SBP, WAPDA, and similar bodies are not eligible under this rule.

      Note: Extraordinary leave (EOL) is not counted as service time under Rule-9(6).

  3. The relaxation in upper age-limits shall be permitted up to the maximum of any one individual concession only, not cumulative.
  4. Except as provided in these rules, no further age relaxation shall be granted under any other rule or ground.

The cutoff date for determining the eligibility of the candidate in terms of age, qualifications, domicile shall be the 31st day of December of the year preceding the year of competitive examination.

Explanation: For competitive examination 2019 the cut-off date thereof shall be the 31st day of December, 2018.

  1. A candidate for competitive examination must hold at least a second division or grade “C” bachelor’s degree in any faculty of one of the Pakistani universities or an equivalent degree or comparable educational qualifications of a foreign university recognized by the Higher Education Commission (HEC), subject to production of equivalence certificate issued by HEC.
  2. Where a candidate does not hold the required degree on or before the cut-off date, he shall be required to produce a certificate from the duly authorized officer of the concerned degree awarding institution, to the effect that the candidate has fulfilled all the requirements of the said degree and has cleared and passed the examination for the said degree on or before the cut-off date. The candidate however would be required to produce the said degree before the final result is declared by the Commission.
  3. A candidate who has obtained a third division or ‘D’ grade in his bachelor’s degree shall be eligible for the competitive examination in cases where he has obtained a higher division or grade in master’s degree.

  1. Candidates for competitive examination must be a citizen of Pakistan or a person deriving his nationality from the State of Jammu and Kashmir.
  2. A candidate who has married a person who is not a citizen of Pakistan shall not be eligible for appointment, provided that a person who marries a foreign national of any country recognized by Federal Government with the prior permission of Government may be regarded as eligible for appointment.

  1. Seats in respect of the Occupational Groups and Services shall be allocated in accordance with the policy as may be prescribed by the Federal Government before finalizing the appointments and for that purpose the candidates shall produce domicile certificate issued by the competent authority in accordance with the law and the rules.
  2. A candidate who has acquired the citizenship of Pakistan by registration under the Pakistan Citizenship Act, 1951 (II of 1951) and the rules made thereunder shall produce along with the application an attested copy of the certificate of citizenship. A candidate who has not been registered as a citizen of Pakistan but claims that he should be deemed to be citizen of Pakistan under the Pakistan Citizenship Act, 1951 (II of 1951) shall produce proof to the effect that he fulfills the conditions on the basis of which he claims to be deemed as a citizen of Pakistan. A candidate who derives his nationality from the State of Jammu and Kashmir shall produce along with the application a certificate issued by the Division to which business of the Azad Jammu and Kashmir stands allocated duly signed by an officer not below the rank of Deputy Secretary in support of his claim.
  3. Candidates of Azad Jammu and Kashmir shall produce domicile certificate along with permanent residence certificate along with the application forms issued by the Division to which business of the Azad Jammu and Kashmir stands allocated duly signed by an officer not below the rank of Deputy Secretary in support of his claim. No such certificates shall be accepted at any later stage.
  4. Domicile once claimed by a candidate and accepted by the Commission for the purpose of admission to competitive examination shall be final. No change will be allowed at a subsequent examination or selection.
  5. Domicile claimed by a candidate and accepted at the time of his first entry into Government service shall be treated as final for the purpose of candidature and allocation and no subsequent change in his domicile shall be accepted.

  1. All applications for the competitive examination must be made online through the Commission‘s website www.fpsc.gov.pk.
  2. Online applications must be made on or before the closing date as advertised by the Commission.
  3. Printed copy of duly filled online application form (i.e. hardcopy) may be obtained and after signing it, copies of all documents and certificates as mentioned in application form alongwith original treasury receipt may be attached with it and dispatched to the Secretary of the Commission, so as to reach the Commission‘s headquarters within ten days of the closing date.
  4. An online application received incomplete, wrongly filled in or its hardcopy not accompanied with any one of the documents mentioned in the application form, shall be rejected.
  5. Hardcopy of the online application, if reached to the Commission after the stipulated period of ten days from the closing date, it shall not be accepted and online form already submitted to the Commission shall stand rejected.
  6. Any correction in the printed hard copy of online form may be made by hand and initialled before dispatch or submission to the Commission, whereafter no request for change in any entry of online application or its hard copy shall be accepted.
  7. No plea that hardcopy of online application form or any document attached therewith has been lost or delayed in the post shall be entertained.
  8. The candidate shall have to pay or deposit two hundred and fifty Rupees in the Commission‘s head of account as fine, if hard copy of online application is received without signature, subject to no other deficiency in application or attached documents, otherwise his application shall stand rejected.
  9. Hardcopy of the online application must be dispatched in a separate envelope. Two or more applications in one envelope shall not be acceptable.
  10. Candidate shall pay two thousand two hundred Rupees, or such other fee as the Commission may determine from time to time, as application fee for competitive examination as per procedure prescribed in Appendix-II and deposited in the nearest Government‘s treasury or in State Bank or National Bank of Pakistan under the head of account “C02101-Organs of State Exam Fee (FPSC Receipt)”. Cash, postal orders, bank drafts and cheques shall not be accepted by the Commission.
  11. Original treasury receipt for written examination must be attached with the application form to be deposited to the Commission. Without providing original treasury receipt, the application of the candidate shall be rejected.
  12. Subjects for the competitive examination shall comprise compulsory papers of 600 marks and optional papers of 600 marks.
  13. Optional subjects must be selected carefully, as wrong selection of subjects shall lead to rejection of candidature.
  14. Combination of optional subjects once chosen before closing date for submission of online application or corrected in hard copy of online application shall be treated as final and no request for change in subjects shall be allowed thereafter.
  15. A candidate who misses any compulsory or optional subject of written examination for medical or any other reasons shall neither be allowed to appear in the remaining subjects nor separate examination for re-appearing in that missed paper shall be allowed.
  16. No candidate shall be eligible to avail more than three chances of the competitive examination within prescribed age-limits.
    Explanation: A candidate shall be deemed to have attempted the examination and his chance stand consumed, if he actually appeared in any one or more papers of the competitive examination and even if he tendered blank answer book or sheet and even if rejected subsequently.
  17. A candidate who conceals the number of previous attempts, shall be liable to prosecution leading to his disqualification under these rules.
  18. No candidate shall be admitted to the examination hall who does not hold original Computerized National Identity Card (CNIC) and admission certificate generated or downloaded from the Commission’s website i.e. www.fpsc.gov.pk as admission certificate shall not be sent through post.
  19. A candidate who arrives at examination hall or centre late, than the time mentioned in admission certificate and date sheet, he shall not be allowed to sit in the examination.
  20. Candidates shall be admitted to the examination provisionally at their own risk subject to their being found eligible in all respects. On detailed scrutiny of the applications after the announcement of result of the written examination, if any candidate is found ineligible in any respect under these rules his candidature shall be cancelled and rejected regardless of the fact whether he has appeared in the examination or qualified therein.
  21. To avoid inconvenience, candidates shall ensure before appearing at the examination that they fulfill all requirements of the rules, relating to the examination.

The competitive examination shall be conducted by the Commission in respect of the Occupational Groups and Services consisting of:
  • Railways (Commercial and Transportation) Group
  • Commerce and Trade Group
  • Foreign Service of Pakistan
  • Information Group
  • Inland Revenue Service
  • Military Lands and Cantonments Group
  • Office Management Group
  • Pakistan Administrative Service
  • Pakistan Audit and Accounts Service
  • Pakistan Customs Service
  • Police Service of Pakistan
  • Postal Group

Eligibility Criteria for the Examination:
  • A candidate who fails to secure at least 40% marks in any of the compulsory subjects shall be considered to have failed in written examination.
  • A candidate who fails to secure 33% marks in any of the optional subjects shall be considered to have failed in written examination.
  • A candidate who fails to secure 50% marks in the aggregate shall be considered to have failed in written examination.
  • A candidate who fails to meet the above requirements shall not be eligible for medical examination, psychological assessment, and viva voce.
  • Only candidates declared qualified in the written examination and found eligible shall be called for subsequent medical examination, psychological assessment, and viva voce.

Special Candidates Eligibility and Medical Examination Rules:
  1. All candidates must be in good mental and bodily health and free from any physical defect that may interfere with the discharge of their duties.
  2. Candidates who fail to meet the medical examination requirements prescribed by the Commission and appointing authority shall not be appointed, except for special candidates.
  3. Special candidates, including those who are physically impaired, hearing or speech impaired, and visually impaired, are eligible to compete against all Occupational Groups and Services.
  4. Special candidates who are visually impaired or physically impaired shall be provided a helper (writer) if declared permanently incapacitated with respect to writing and have attached a disability certificate.
  5. The helper's role is to reproduce in writing the words uttered by the special candidate. No intellectual contribution by the helper is allowed.
  6. The educational level of the helper shall be graduation, intermediate, or matriculation, as per availability at the examination centre.
  7. No requests for a helper of choice or specific examination venue shall be entertained.
  8. The special candidate and helper must remain in the examination hall until the conclusion of the paper.
  9. Visually impaired candidates shall be allowed extra time of 15 minutes per hour, but other special candidates will not be allowed extra time.
  10. Special candidates may attempt the paper on a computer if they are computer literate and have filled the relevant entries in the online application form.
  11. No applications or medical certificates regarding disability, request for a helper, or computer on medical grounds will be accepted after the closing date unless the claim was made before the closing date and supported by a disability certificate.
  12. Candidates who qualify the written examination shall undergo a medical examination by the medical board constituted for this purpose.
  13. If a candidate remains absent twice for the medical examination, their candidature will be automatically rejected, and their attempt will be considered consumed.
  14. Candidates may get examined by a Government’s medical officer of civil surgeon standing before applying for admission to the examination to avoid disappointment.

Viva Voce (Interview) Rules:
  • A candidate declared qualified in the written examination shall be interviewed by a board.
  • The board will have the candidate's academic and extramural record and will ask questions on matters of general interest.
  • The interview aims to assess the candidate's suitability for the services and will focus on moral and ethical qualities, intelligence, alertness, character strength, and leadership potential.
  • The board will also consider the candidate's extramural activities (sports, debates, hobbies, etc.) and their impact on physique and character.
  • All candidates are expected to have basic knowledge regarding Islam and Pakistan. Questions may be asked in the viva voce on these subjects.
  • Non-Muslim candidates will not be asked any questions regarding Islam.
  • The viva voce is worth 300 marks. A candidate must secure at least 100 marks to pass the interview.
  • A candidate who fails to secure 100 marks in the viva voce will be considered to have failed and will not be eligible for appointment.
  • The result of the viva voce will be communicated to all candidates in due course of time.

To view/download CSS Competitive Examination Rules, 2019, Click here