# Nearly 5.49 lakh appeared in UPSC civil services prelim exam 2026-08-08T10:05:22+00:00 | Governance | Indian Opinion Desk Corroboration: 1 independent outlet Nearly 5.49 lakh candidates, about 67% of applicants, appeared for the civil services preliminary examination on Sunday, the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) said. The commission for the first time used real-time face authentication of candidates at all 2,072 exam venues, developed indigenously through the National e-Governance Division. UPSC stated the system worked with 100% success across 83 centres, calling it a major step for exam integrity. In 2025, about 5.8 lakh of 9.5 lakh applicants (61%) had turned up. This year, 1.12 lakh PwBD and PwD candidates had applied. ## Coverage - millenniumpost.in Tags: civil services exam, exam integrity, face authentication, NeGD, prelims 2026, UPSC Canonical: https://indianopinion.org/nearly-5-49-lakh-appeared-in-upsc-civil-services-prelim-exam/ License: Summary and commentary (c) Indian Opinion, reusable with attribution. Facts belong to the linked sources. Cite: https://indianopinion.org/nearly-5-49-lakh-appeared-in-upsc-civil-services-prelim-exam/#story-in-brief Review state: restored archive article, accurate at time of publication, not offered to search indexes.