Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) has made several major changes to make the recruitment, examination and application process more transparent, simple and candidate-centric. The most important step among these is to scrutinize the applications using Artificial Intelligence (AI) for the first time in the Civil Services (Preliminary) Examination 2026.
Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) has made several major changes to make the recruitment, examination and application process more transparent, simple and candidate-centric. The most important step among these is to scrutinize the applications using Artificial Intelligence (AI) for the first time in the Civil Services (Preliminary) Examination 2026. With the help of AI, the Commission rejected 569 duplicate and ineligible applications even before the examination. Apart from this, UPSC has also given the facility to the disabled (PwBD) candidates to choose the examination center of their choice, which will make it easier for them to take the examination.
How did AI catch duplicate applications?
According to the report of The Indian Express, this year about 94% of the candidates of Civil Services Examination 2026 chose the option of Aadhaar authentication during the application. This resulted in faster identity verification of candidates and significantly reduced the chances of the same person applying multiple times.
UPSC used AI for the first time to check the applications of candidates who did not do Aadhaar authentication. The AI identified duplicate and ineligible applications by matching the candidates’ names, parents’ names, date of birth and photographs with the Commission’s records.
For what reasons were 569 applications rejected?
The 569 applications that were rejected during AI scrutiny included candidates who had made more than one application, had completed the prescribed maximum number of attempts or had exceeded the prescribed age limit. Earlier this type of eligibility test was done at the time of interview after passing the preliminary and main examination. Now this process is being completed at the initial stage of application itself, which will save time and make the recruitment process more transparent.
UPSC made many more big changes
According to the Commission, since 2014 till now UPSC has recruited 78,394 candidates in various government services. During this period, many reforms have been implemented to make the examination and appointment process more simple, faster and transparent. The Commission informed on social media platform
OTR portal will make the application process easier
To further ease the application process, UPSC has launched One-Time Registration (OTR) portal, which is linked to Aadhaar and DigiLocker. Through this, candidates will have to register only once. After this they will be able to re-use their verified documents while applying for different UPSC exams. This will eliminate the need for repeated filling of information and paperwork.