GDS Online Engagement Schedule Announced: January 2026 Recruitment Process to Begin Without DigiLocker

GDS Online Engagement Schedule Announced: January 2026 Recruitment Process to Begin Without DigiLocker

Department of Posts has released the revised timeline for the GDS Online Engagement Schedule – I, January 2026, confirming that the recruitment will begin without the DigiLocker functionality, as discussions on platform integration are still underway.

The decision was taken after evaluating comments and feedback from CEPT on the tentative schedule and portal development under APT 2.0.

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According to the circular issued on December 8, 2025, CEPT has been directed to complete educational board configuration, re-verification and related activities between December 8 and December 13, 2025, with a one-week internal window for CEPT to resolve inconsistencies.

The verification of educational boards by all postal circles is expected to be completed as per the updated schedule.

A second round of User Acceptance Testing (UAT) for the GDS Online Engagement Portal will be conducted from December 22 to December 24, 2025, followed by vacancy capturing by divisions between January 1 and January 10, 2026.

The Directorate has also confirmed that the descriptive GDS recruitment notification will be released on January 15, 2026.

CEPT has been asked to work with DigiLocker to finalize integration with the GDS portal. The functionality is expected to be included in GDS Online Engagement Schedule – II, July 2026, if development and production testing are completed on time. UAT for DigiLocker integration with the GDS portal may take place in March 2026, subject to completion of production environment testing by February.

The instructions issued cover verification processes, data entry rules, SOP for exception handling, and guidelines for educational board configuration. Detailed operational instructions for vacancy capturing and other activities will be shared with all postal circles and CEPT in due course.

The communication also highlights that the timely completion of verification and configuration activities is essential to ensure the smooth operation of the January 2026 GDS recruitment without DigiLocker dependency. The updated instructions have been issued with the approval of the competent authority.