Published on: 11 September 2026 Category: India Post Latest News | India Post Departmental Exam | India Post Notifications
Quick Summary (Read This First)
- The Department of Posts has issued a new Office Order on 10 September 2026.
- Order number: R-09/15/2026-SPG-II-DoP, issued by the Personnel Division, Dak Bhawan, New Delhi.
- It revises the LDCE (Limited Departmental Competitive Examination) results for vacancy years 2017-18, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023.
- The revision happened because of a CAT Ernakulam Bench judgment dated 28.11.2025 in OA No. 194/2023 — Shri Swaraj Nair Vs Union of India.
- Around 80 officers got a changed vacancy year, 162 officers kept their existing vacancy year, and 26 officers got fresh promotion to Postal Service Group ‘B’ with circle allotment.
- Pay scale involved: Level-9 of 7th CPC Pay Matrix, Rs.53,100 – 1,67,800.
If you are preparing for GDS to MTS, MTS to PA, Postman to PA or GDS to Postman departmental exams, this order is worth reading. It shows exactly how promotions, seniority and court orders work inside India Post.
What Exactly Is This Order About?
In simple words, the Department of Posts had already declared LDCE results earlier. Some officials went to court because they felt the vacancy year given to them was wrong. The CAT, Ernakulam Bench decided the matter on 28.11.2025.
After that judgment, the DE Branch issued communication No. A-34013/01/2026-DE dated 06.08.2026, and now the Personnel Division has issued the final Office Order.
The exams involved were:
- LDCE held on 29.11.2020 — for vacancy years 2017-18, 2018, 2019 and 2020
- LDCE held on 04.06.2023 — for vacancy years 2021, 2022 and 2023
The order has been sent to all Chief Postmasters General, and GM CEPT Mysore has been asked to upload it on the India Post website.
Part A — Officers Whose Vacancy Year Has Been Revised
This part covers officers who were already promoted to Postal Service Group ‘B’ earlier, through:
- Office Order No. R-09/13/2025-SPG-II-DOP dated 30.12.2025
- Corrigendum dated 31.12.2025
- Notification No. 9-27/2019-SPG-II dated 02.06.2022
Their promotion stays. Only the vacancy year against their name has been corrected.
Inspector Line — 50 officers
- Many officers moved from vacancy year 2018 to 2017-18.
- Several moved from 2019 to 2018, and 2020 to 2019.
- Circles covered include Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan, Delhi, Haryana, Karnataka, Jharkhand, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Assam, Bihar, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Uttar Pradesh, Telangana, plus CEPT, Postal Directorate and PTC Vadodara.
- A few interesting corrections: one Tamil Nadu officer moved from 2020 straight to 2017-18, and one Rajasthan officer moved from 2022 to 2018.
General Line — 30 officers
- Same pattern here. Corrections from 2018 to 2017-18, 2019 to 2018, 2020 to 2019, 2021 to 2020, and 2023 to 2022.
- Circles covered include Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh, Telangana, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan.
- One Odisha officer moved from 2023 to 2020, which is a big jump.
Important note from the order: The date of regular promotion of these officers stays unchanged. It will still be counted from the date they actually took charge.
Part B — Officers Whose Vacancy Year Stays The Same
This is the biggest section of the order. These officials were also promoted through the same earlier orders, and after checking, the Department decided that no change is needed in their vacancy year.
- Inspector Line — 135 officers, with assigned vacancy years from 2018 to 2023.
- General Line — 27 officers, with assigned vacancy years from 2018 to 2023.
Circles in this list include Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Rajasthan, Bihar, Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Delhi, Haryana, Assam, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, West Bengal, Jharkhand, Kerala, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Telangana, Jammu & Kashmir, plus RAKNPA, CEPT, Parcel Directorate, Postal Directorate, PTC Saharanpur and PTC Darbhanga.
So if a name appears in Part B, nothing changes. The earlier vacancy year continues.
Part C — Fresh Postal Service Group ‘B’ Promotions and Circle Allotment
This is the part most people were waiting for. After the result revision, new officers have been promoted to Postal Service Group ‘B’ on a regular basis in Level-9 (Rs.53,100 – 1,67,800).
Inspector Line — 20 officers promoted
- Vacancy years assigned range from 2017-18 to 2023.
- Six officers were already promoted earlier through DPC 2023 and DPC 2024, so this order regularises their position.
- One officer was promoted with vacancy year 2017-18 but has already retired on 31.07.2025.
- Remaining officers got circles either in the interest of service or on their own request.
- Circle allotments include Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, West Bengal, Kerala, Gujarat, Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Delhi, Punjab, Maharashtra and the Postal Directorate.
- Note: PwBD candidates have been allotted to their home circles or units.
General Line — 6 officers promoted
- All with vacancy year 2023.
- Allotments made to Jammu & Kashmir, Telangana, Maharashtra and Bihar, mostly in the interest of service.
The Rules Every Promoted Official Must Know
This is the part you should actually read twice. The order lists clear conditions.
1. Seniority and Date of Effect
- Seniority follows the Hon’ble Supreme Court judgment in Shri K. Meghachandra Singh case.
- It will be counted strictly from the date the officer is actually borne in the cadre, that is, from the date of actual physical assumption of charge.
- A revised vacancy year does not mean earlier seniority.
2. No Retrospective Benefit
- No retrospective seniority.
- No notional promotion.
- No back-dated financial benefit before the date of actual entry into the cadre.
3. Financial Protection
- This re-allocation of vacancy year gives no notional pay escalation.
- No retrospective pay fixation and no stepping up of pay.
- Pay stays fixed as per the actual physical assumption of charge of the promoted post.
4. If a Vigilance or Disciplinary Case Is Pending
- The official should not be relieved for posting without a specific order from the Directorate.
- Promotion should not be withheld only because disciplinary action is being contemplated.
- But it will be affected if the officer is under suspension, has been issued a charge sheet, or a criminal prosecution is pending.
- If any punishment other than censure and recovery of money is currently running, promotion waits till that punishment period ends.
- An intimation report must be sent immediately to the Postal Directorate.
5. Relieving Timeline
- Officers must be relieved within 15 days from the date of issue of this order.
- If the posting order from the allotted circle has not arrived, the relieving circle will still relieve the officer and ask them to report to the allotted circle headquarters.
- Officers allotted to the Postal Directorate will report to the Personnel Division, Dak Bhawan, New Delhi-110001.
6. If You Do Not Want The Promotion
- A declination letter in writing, forwarded by the Circle Office, must reach the Directorate within 30 days.
- If charge is not assumed within 30 days without a valid reason, it is treated as deemed declination of promotion.
7. Probation
- Probation period is two years.
- Suitability will be judged after probation is completed.
- If any official takes leave for more than 30 days during this period, probation gets extended accordingly.
8. Training
- Officials are promoted to PS Group ‘B’ without training for now.
- Prescribed training will come later, as and when notified by the Director, Rafi Ahmed Kidwai National Postal Academy (RAKNPA), Ghaziabad.
9. Pay Fixation Option
- Officers who want to choose a date for pay fixation under FR-22(I)(a)(1) must give the option within one month from the date of assumption of charge.
10. Other Points
- Re-allotment requests will not be entertained before completion of tenure, as per Directorate letter No. 9-23/2014-SPG dated 25.02.2020.
- Inter-se seniority of selected officers will be fixed by the Personnel Division later.
- The officer must send a copy of the charge report to SPG-II Section, Postal Directorate, through the Head of Circle or Director, PTC.
- Hindi version of the order will follow.
Transfer and Posting of 12 PS Group ‘B’ Officers
The Competent Authority has also approved transfer and posting of 12 Postal Service Group ‘B’ officers, some on own request and some in the interest of service.
Movements include:
- PLI Directorate to MO Division, Postal Directorate
- Training Division, Postal Directorate to West Bengal Circle
- Maharashtra to Telangana
- DE Section, Postal Directorate to Delhi
- Delhi to AD, DE Section, Postal Directorate
- Gujarat to AD, Training Division, Postal Directorate
- Jammu & Kashmir to Rajasthan
- Bihar to Tamil Nadu
- Maharashtra to Bihar
- Delhi to PTC Saharanpur
- West Bengal to Kerala
- Uttarakhand to Uttar Pradesh
Charge reports are to be furnished to all concerned in due course.
The order was signed by Shri Kaushik Banerjee, Assistant Director General (SPG) for the allotment portion and Shri Dinesh Kumar, Section Officer (SPG-II) for the circulation portion.
What This Means For You If You Are Preparing For a Departmental Exam
This order is a real-life example of how India Post promotion exams work from start to finish. Here is the practical takeaway.
- Departmental exams are your fastest route up. A GDS who clears GDS to MTS or GDS to Postman / Mail Guard enters the regular cadre. From there, MTS to PA and Postman to PA open the door to Inspector Line and finally Postal Service Group ‘B’.
- Vacancy year matters a lot. As this order shows, your vacancy year decides where you stand in the list. Understanding the GDS to MTS selection process and eligibility criteria early saves you from confusion later.
- Seniority is counted from the date you actually join. Passing the exam is step one. Taking charge on time is step two.
- Keep your service record clean. Vigilance and disciplinary cases can hold up a promotion even after you clear the exam.
- Read every notification fully. The 15-day relieving rule, the 30-day declination rule and the one-month pay fixation option are all easy to miss.
How To Start Your Preparation The Right Way
- Download the latest GDS to MTS syllabus PDF and GDS to MTS notification PDF as soon as they are released.
- Solve GDS to MTS previous year question papers and MTS to PA previous year question papers. Nothing beats real papers.
- Attempt a GDS to MTS mock test every week to fix your speed.
- Use a proper GDS to MTS question bank and practice set instead of random PDFs from groups.
- Follow India Post circulars, India Post current affairs and India Post GK regularly. Departmental exams ask about your own department.
- Join structured GDS to MTS online classes or MTS to PA online classes if self-study is not working for you. Live classes plus recorded classes give you both discipline and flexibility.
Circle-wise preparation also helps. Whether you are in Punjab Circle, Delhi Circle, Haryana Circle, Rajasthan Circle, Uttar Pradesh Circle, Bihar Circle, Madhya Pradesh Circle, Maharashtra Circle, Gujarat Circle, Tamil Nadu Circle, Karnataka Circle, Kerala Circle, Odisha Circle, Assam Circle or West Bengal Circle, the exam pattern is the same but vacancies differ. Always check your own circle notification.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q1. Does this order change anyone’s date of promotion? No. The order clearly says the date of regular promotion stays unchanged and continues to be counted from the date of actual assumption of charge.
Q2. Will the revised vacancy year give extra salary or arrears? No. The order states there is no notional pay escalation, no retrospective pay fixation and no stepping up of pay.
Q3. What happens if an officer does not join within 30 days? It will be treated as deemed declination of promotion.
Q4. Is training required before joining PS Group ‘B’? Not right now. Officials are promoted directly. Training at RAKNPA Ghaziabad will be notified later.
Q5. Where can I read the original order? GM CEPT Mysore has been asked to upload it on the official India Post website. Always cross-check with the original PDF before acting on any summary.
Final Word
Court cases, result revisions and vacancy year corrections are a normal part of service life in India Post. The best way to protect your own career is simple: clear your departmental exam, join on time, keep your record clean, and stay updated with every circular.
If you are still stuck at the GDS or MTS stage, this is your sign to start. The people named in this order also started exactly where you are today.