UPSC rolls out face authentication at exam centres to curb impersonation: Here's how it works

In a major move to enhance the credibility of the civil services examination system and prevent cases of impersonation, the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) has successfully rolled out a face-authentication mechanism.

The technology was deployed during the recently held Civil Services Examination and Indian Forest Service (Preliminary) Examination 2026. The system verifies that the photograph submitted by a candidate while filling out the application form matches the individual appearing at the examination centre with the admit card.

According to the UPSC, the platform facilitated live, real-time verification of candidates at examination centres through a mobile-phone-based authentication process carried out by invigilators. The mechanism ensured accurate identification of candidates and effectively eliminated opportunities for impersonation and other malpractices.

The commission conducted the real-time face-authentication exercise across all 2,072 examination centres that hosted this year's Civil Services (Preliminary) Examination 2026, covering venues nationwide.

The face-authentication application was developed and implemented by the UPSC with technical assistance from the National e-Governance Division (NeGD) under the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology.

The UPSC said it has also established a dedicated business process that makes face authentication mandatory for every candidate before entry into the examination hall is granted.

No expensive hardware required

To ensure smooth implementation, the commission prepared a detailed Standard Operating Procedure (SOP), which was circulated to all states, districts and examination venues involved in conducting the test.

"Multiple rounds of training were imparted to the invigilators. The beauty of the solution lies in the fact that it does not require any expensive hardware," the UPSC said in a statement.

"It works on any Android smartphone, and invigilators used their own mobile phones for the purpose, thereby reducing hardware costs and easing the logistical burden," it added.

The commission highlighted the speed and efficiency of the application as one of its key strengths.

"The time required for a typical face authentication of a candidate is only about 6-8 seconds, which ensured smooth entry and prevented queuing at examination centres," said the UPSC.

Designed to operate at a large scale, the platform was simultaneously used by more than 7,000 invigilators. During peak entry hours, it was capable of processing nearly 12,000 authentication requests every minute.

Speaking about the initiative, UPSC Chairman Ajay Kumar said, "This is a new step taken by UPSC to ensure impersonation-free exams. The technology is fully developed in-house with the help of NeGD. However, the challenge also lay in deploying the solution at scale, leveraging the existing invigilation workforce for face authentication, training them, and accomplishing all this within a short span of time. UPSC, NeGD, and MeitY teams have done a great job in developing and implementing this solution successfully on such a large scale with nearly 5.5 lakhs candidates across 2000 plus venues."

The successful deployment of real-time face authentication marks a significant milestone in safeguarding the integrity of the civil services examination process and underscores the UPSC's commitment to transparency, fairness and the adoption of advanced technology in conducting public examinations.