UPSC EPFO APFC paper leaked? Commission releases important statement

Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) conducted the EPFO Assistant Provident Fund Commissioner (APFC) examination on July 2, 2023. The exam was conducted from 2 to 4 pm. However, claims made on social media allege that the paper was leaked and the images of question papers with answers highlighted in it were shared on Whatsapp at 1:16 pm. UPSC has now released a press release refuting these claims. 

UPSC refutes EPFO APFC paper leak claims

UPSC in its latest release said that the Commission noted this event and did a complete scrutiny of the processes & checks of the examination in all the centres across the country. Nothing worthy of suspicion was found. The commission stated that a few images of a portion of question papers have been uploaded on different social media portals after the conduct of the examination. By then, lakhs of question papers were in the hands of all those examinees who appeared in the examination and the Commission had also uploaded question papers on the website. 

It must be noted that UPSC has already declared the results of EPFO, APFC exam. Through this recruitment drive, the UPSC aims to fill 577 positions this year. Out of the total, 418 vacancies are for the post of Enforcement Officers (EO)/ Accounts Officer  (AO), and the remaining 159 vacancies are for Assistant Provident Fund Commissioners (APFC). 

UPSC EPFO APFC Press Release

"Rumours are doing rounds in social media about sabotage in the Assistant Provident Fund Commissioner (APFC) Examination conducted by the Commission on 2nd July, 2023. Few images of portion of question papers have been uploaded on different social media portals after the conduct of examination. By then, lakhs of question papers were in the hands of all those examinees who appeared in the examination and the Commission had also uploaded question paper on the website. Therefore, such inputs are neither credible nor actionable on the part of the Commission. Nevertheless, the Commission noted this event and did a complete scrutiny of the processes & checks of the examination in all the centres across the country. Nothing worthy of suspicion was found. Also, as a matter of abundant caution, it analysed the data of the result of the examination at all levels of the merit list to find any unusual trend," UPSC said in the press release.

"It was clearly observed that the merit positions of qualified and unqualified candidates at every level are in order and as per the performance of examinees. As regards more candidates getting qualified from some centres, it is stated that in open competitions this is not unusual. No two examinations can be compared on pro-rata basis and even the same examination in different years throw different data. On the basis of a detailed and thorough analysis of events and data, the Commission is of the firm view that rumours doing rounds in social media are baseless and devoid of merit," it added.