Pune: Bowing to sustained protests by competitive examination aspirants, the Maharashtra Public Service Commission (MPSC) has deferred implementation of the computer-based test (CBT) mode for its group C recruitment examinations till July 2027. The MPSC has decided that the Maharashtra group C services combined preliminary examination 2026 will instead be conducted in the conventional, offline, OMR-based format.
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The MPSC on July 16 issued a corrigendum announcing the decision. As a result, the group C services combined preliminary examination that was originally scheduled for September 27 has been rescheduled to October 25 this year. Whereas the main exam will be held on December 27, 2026. The recruitment drive aims to fill 2,619 vacancies.
The commission has also extended the application deadline to July 31, while the last date for payment of examination fees through online modes has been extended to August 3. Payment through challan has been discontinued. The commission has asked candidates who have already submitted their applications to log in to the MPSC portal and select their preferred district examination centre between July 19 and July 31. Candidates who fail to do so will be allotted centres based on their correspondence address.
The decision comes after a high-level meeting chaired by chief minister Devendra Fadnavis and attended by MPSC chairman Vivek Bhimanwar, the chief secretary, and senior officials of the general administration department. The move comes after weeks of protests by competitive examination aspirants across Maharashtra, opposing the immediate shift to the CBT mode. Candidates argued that inadequate digital infrastructure in rural areas and concerns over transparency coming on the back of irregularities reported in some online examinations would put several aspirants at a disadvantage.
Meanwhile, competitive examination aspirant Nitin Andhale welcomed the rollback, calling it a victory for the students’ struggle. However, he urged the government to make the decision permanent unless the MPSC develops the capacity to conduct transparent online examinations on its own, without relying on private agencies or a normalisation process.
