Glitches force cancellation of online B1 promotion test for over 4,000 Himachal Pradesh police constables

“A number of candidates faced system errors, and in many cases, their answers were not submitted successfully,” said a police officer overseeing the examination process. “This led to confusion and chaos at several centres, forcing the authorities to halt the exam midway.”

The decision to suspend the examination was made after widespread complaints were received from across the state. The online format, introduced to ensure greater transparency and efficiency in the promotion process, faced its first major setback since its implementation.

In an official statement issued later in the day, the police confirmed the cancellation. “Due to certain technical issues encountered during the online examination, the process had to be temporarily called off in order to maintain fairness, transparency and uniformity in the selection process,” the statement read. “The Himachal Pradesh Police sincerely regrets the inconvenience caused to all the participating candidates.”

Officials assured that the technical issues would be thoroughly reviewed before rescheduling the test.

“The department is working to identify and rectify the glitches in coordination with the technical service provider,” said a police officer, adding that a fresh date for the examination would be announced soon.

The police have advised all eligible candidates to remain in touch with their district police offices for further updates regarding the rescheduled examination.

The B1 test is a key component of the departmental promotion process in Himachal Pradesh Police, determining eligibility for advancement among constables based on merit and performance. Sunday’s disruption has delayed the process, leaving thousands of candidates awaiting fresh instructions.

‘No question paper leak’

Prem Thakur, Inspector-General (Armed Police & Training), told The Indian Express, “The online test, which was being conducted in collaboration with the Himachal Pradesh State Electronics Development Corporation, was called off as the server went down and stopped functioning. The candidate constables were unable to upload their answers.

The glitch was reported when candidates appeared for the first morning shift. Later, we decided to call off the online test. A fresh date will be announced accordingly.”

Thakur ruled out the possibility of a question paper leak. He said, “It was an internal departmental promotion test. We have already uploaded a question bank of 15,000 questions on the Himachal Pradesh Police website.

Candidates were given different sets of questions selected from the 15,000-question bank and were required to submit their answers online.”

Another police officer privy to the development said, “On October 12, a mock online test was conducted across the state. At that time, the test was conducted smoothly, and no hurdles were reported. A total of 4,461 constables appeared in the online test for 877 posts of head constables.”

Sources added that when the glitches were reported, all district superintendents of police were present at their examination centres to oversee the process.

A constable from Shimla who appeared for the online exam said, “We don’t think the fresh date for the test will be announced soon because of the upcoming Bihar Assembly elections. A large number of police personnel, especially constables, will be deployed in Bihar for election duty.”