In September 2025, the UPSC conducted a pilot programme to test AI-enabled facial authentication technology for swift and secure candidate verification during two examinations. Photo: X/@drajaykumar_ias
The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) said on Friday (January 9, 2026) that all candidates appearing in the examinations conducted by the Commission “will undergo face authentication at the venue”.
The update was posted on UPSC’s website on Friday (January 9).
After pilot project
Earlier in September 2025, the Commission conducted a pilot programme to test AI-enabled facial authentication technology for swift and secure candidate verification during two examinations.
The pilot was conducted with the assistance of National e-Governance Division (NeGD).
UPSC said the initiative seeks to strengthen the integrity of the examination process and enhance the ease of entry for candidates at examination centres.
The pilot was carried out at select centres in Gurugram, Haryana where the facial images of candidates were digitally matched with the photographs submitted in their registration forms. The new system reduced verification time to an average of just 8–10 seconds per candidate, significantly streamlining the entry process while adding an extra layer of security.
The new update means that aspirants during future examinations will have to undergo face authentication at the exam centres.
On July 10, 2025, UPSC published a fresh tender seeking bids from public sector undertakings (PSU) “to match and cross-check the biometric details of the candidates to prevent cheating, fraud, unfair means and impersonation”.
The document said the Commission desires to incorporate Aadhaar-based fingerprint authentication (or else digital fingerprint capturing) and facial recognition of candidates, scanning of QR code of e-admit cards.
It said that UPSC conducts 14 major examinations and a number of recruitment tests and interviews in around 3,000 venues across 180 centres with a candidature ranging up to 12 lakhs.
Questions over integrity
Over the past two-years, the 100-year-old institution introduced several changes to strengthen the examination system which came under a cloud amid the NEET examination row and IAS probationer Puja Khedkar’s case.
Ms. Khedkar allegedly forged identity documents and a person with benchmark disability (PwBD) certificate to secure entry into the Indian Administrative Service (IAS), though service allocation is decided by the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT).
UPSC has registered a criminal case against Ms. Khedkar for “misrepresenting and falsifying facts to obtain extra attempts in CSE-2022, beyond the prescribed limit”.
The National Testing Agency (NTA) was dragged to the Supreme Court after several lapses were reported in the conduct of National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) 2024.
For the civil services examination in 2024, the rules were amended and the online submission of educational, caste and physical disability certificates was made mandatory at the stage of preliminary examinations, unlike earlier when documents were to be scanned and uploaded once a candidate qualified for the Mains examination.
Published – January 09, 2026 09:32 pm IST
