Chennai, June 8:
The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) has introduced facial recognition technology in the Civil Services Preliminary Examination 2026, marking a major step toward ensuring transparency and preventing impersonation during one of India’s most competitive exams.
The preliminary examination, conducted on May 24, was held across 2,072 centres nationwide for recruitment to prestigious services such as the Indian Administrative Service (IAS), Indian Police Service (IPS), and Indian Foreign Service (IFS). Out of around 8.19 lakh registered candidates, approximately 5.49 lakh aspirants appeared for the examination.
The facial recognition system was deployed following instances of impersonation reported in previous years. Invigilators used a specially designed mobile application to verify candidates by matching their real-time facial data with the photographs submitted during the registration process, ensuring that only genuine candidates were allowed to take the exam.
The application was developed with technical support from the National e-Governance Division, functioning under the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology. The move is expected to strengthen the integrity of the examination process and set a precedent for the use of advanced technology in large-scale competitive exams across the country.