Banking Aspirants Spend Around Rs.4,000 a Year on Exam Forms, Many Poor Students Unable to Apply
Bank Exam Application Fees: The application fees for bank exams are becoming expensive for many job aspirants. Most banking exams charge around ₹1,000 as the application fee, which puts an extra burden on candidates who are already spending money on preparation, travel, and study materials.
Banking candidates usually apply for several exams such as IBPS PO, IBPS Clerk, SBI PO, SBI Clerk, and other recruitment tests conducted by different banks. Some banks have also started conducting their own separate recruitment exams. For example, Bank of Baroda conducts its own PO recruitment exam, which means candidates have to fill out a separate application form and pay another application fee.
As a result, many aspirants end up spending several thousand rupees every year just on application fees. This can be difficult, especially for candidates from low-income families. On the other hand, government recruitment exams such as SSC CGL charge a much lower application fee. The SSC CGL application fee is only ₹100 for General, OBC, and EWS male candidates. Women candidates, SC, ST, PwBD, and Ex-Servicemen do not have to pay any application fee at all.
Many banking aspirants feel that bank exam fees should be reduced so that more candidates can apply without facing financial difficulties.
Comparison of IBPS PO and SSC CGL Fees
| Category | SSC CGL Fee | IBPS PO Fee |
|---|---|---|
| General / OBC / EWS (Male) | ₹100 | ₹850 |
| General / OBC / EWS (Female) | ₹0 (Exempted) | ₹850 |
| SC / ST / PwBD | ₹0 (Exempted) | ₹175 |
| Ex-Servicemen (ESM) | ₹0 (Exempted) | ₹850 (Unless SC/ST/PwBD) |
Even the application fee for UPSC Civil Services Examination (CSE), which is considered India’s most prestigious exam, is very low. The application fee for the UPSC CSE Preliminary Examination is only ₹100, similar to SSC CGL. Like SSC exams, all women candidates, SC, ST, and other eligible reserved category candidates do not have to pay any application fee.
| Exam Stage | General / OBC / EWS (Male) | Female / SC / ST / PwBD |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Preliminary Exam | ₹100 | ₹0 (Exempted) |
| 2. Mains Exam | ₹200 | ₹0 (Exempted) |
| 3. Interview Stage | ₹0 | ₹0 |
If 20 lakh (2 million) aspirants fill out the IBPS PO form, IBPS will collect between ₹122.75 Crore and ₹170 Crore, depending on the category breakdown of the applicants. In large-scale Indian competitive exams, roughly 65% of applicants typically fall under unreserved/OBC/EWS quotas, and 35% fall under SC/ST/PwBD quotas.
- General / OBC / EWS (65%): 13 Lakh applicants × ₹850 = ₹110.5 Crore
- SC / ST / PwBD (35%): 7 Lakh applicants × ₹175 = ₹12.25 Crore
- Total Amount: ₹122.75 Crore
This amount is collected from just one examination, IBPS PO. Most banking aspirants usually appear for at least four major exams every year – IBPS PO, IBPS Clerk, SBI PO, and SBI Clerk. As a result, aspirants collectively pay around ₹500 crore every year in application fees for these exams.
The cost of applying for bank exams should be reduced. A candidate has to spend around ₹4,000 per year just on application fees for the basic banking examinations. Many students from poor families have reported that they are unable to apply for all the exams because they cannot afford the fees. The Government and banks should look into this issue and consider reducing the application fees so that more deserving candidates can participate in the recruitment process.
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