The Union government on Wednesday made it mandatory for aspirants to submit online educational, caste and physical disability certificates at the stage of the preliminary exams for civil service recruitment.

Earlier, the candidates had to upload the documents only after they had qualified for the mains examination.

The Ministry of Personnel on Wednesday notified the rules for the 2025 civil services examination. The Union Public Service Commission, a constitutional body, recruits officers to the All India Services and the Central Civil Services through examinations.

The change in the rules comes in the aftermath of the case involving former Indian Administrative Service probationer Puja Khedkar, who is accused of having fraudulently cleared the civil services examination.

The notification issued on Wednesday stated that “failure to provide the required information and documents along with the registration and online application form” will lead to cancellation of the candidature.

The Commission will now also provide a 10-day window after the results of the preliminary examination are declared for candidates to specify their cadre preference.

So far, the service and cadre preference were to be submitted by candidates after passing the mains examination.

It will also provide a 15-day period, starting from the date of declaration of the results of the written part of the mains examination, to the candidates who have qualified for the personality test or interview. This will be to update their details or educational qualification status, and to upload the proof of passing of the requisite qualifying examination at the specified portal.

In July, it was reported that the Union Public Service Commission was also planning to introduce technological upgrades to its examination system with Aadhaar-based fingerprint authentication of candidates, facial recognition and security camera surveillance to prevent fraud.

The technology will be used to “match and cross-check the biometric details” of the candidates and to monitor candidates during the examination “to prevent cheating, fraud, unfair means and impersonation”, the commission had said in its tender document.

The Union government had discharged Puja Khedkar from the Indian Administrative Service on September 6.

This came five weeks after the Union Public Service Commission revoked Puja Khedkar’s selection as a trainee officer and permanently banned her from all the examinations it conducts. She had been serving as an assistant collector in Pune.

The controversy around Puja Khedkar’s selection erupted after Pune-based Right to Information activist Vijay Kumbhar alleged that she had become a civil services officer by availing benefits under the Other Backward Classes quota.

In this category, persons with parents having an annual income of more than Rs 8 lakh are classified in the “creamy layer” and are not eligible for reservation benefits.

Khedkar’s father, Diliprao Khedkar, had unsuccessfully contested the 2024 Lok Sabha election as a Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi candidate. Kumbhar claimed that according to his election affidavit, his declared wealth was Rs 40 crore.

Diliprao Khedkar is a retired officer of the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board.

Puja Khedkar had been booked in July for forgery, a day after she was issued a show cause notice for cancelling her candidature in the 2022 Civil Services Examination. She was also accused of falsely claiming to be visually and mentally impaired and allegedly did not undergo medical tests to validate these claims.