RRB NTPC Undergraduate Recruitment 2026: 1,688 Posts, Apply by 13 November

RRB NTPC Undergraduate Recruitment 2026 has opened 1,688 clerk posts for 12th pass candidates under Centralised Employment Notification (CEN) No. 07/2026, and the form runs from 15 October to 13 November 2026. You apply online only, through rrbapply.gov.in, to one Railway Recruitment Board — and one board only. The fee is Rs 500 for most candidates and Rs 250 for the concession categories, and most of it is refunded if you actually sit the first computer based test. With two days left to apply, the two details worth settling first are which RRB you choose and whether your 12th marks meet the 50% rule — waived for SC, ST, PwBD, ex-servicemen and anyone with a higher qualification.

At a glance	RRB NTPC Undergraduate 2026
Organisation	Railway Recruitment Boards (RRBs), Ministry of Railways
Notification	Centralised Employment Notification (CEN) No. 07/2026
Posts	4 Non-Technical Popular Category (Undergraduate) posts
Total seats	1,688 (provisional)
Application dates	15 October to 13 November 2026 (till 11:59 pm)
Fee payment last date	15 November 2026
Correction window	16 to 25 November 2026 (Rs 250 per correction)
Application route	Online only at rrbapply.gov.in
Qualification	12th pass with at least 50% marks in aggregate (waived for SC, ST, PwBD, ex-servicemen and higher-qualification holders)
Age limit	18 to 30 years as on 1 January 2027
Initial pay	Rs 19,900 to Rs 21,700 (Pay Levels 2 and 3, 7th CPC)
Application fee	Rs 500; Rs 250 for SC, ST, Ex-servicemen, PwBD, Female, Transgender, Minorities and EBC candidates
Selection	CBT 1, then CBT 2, Document Verification and Medical Examination. No typing test
CBT 1 date	To be announced

The 1,688 posts, post by post

Commercial cum Ticket Clerk takes the most seats — 700 of the 1,688. Junior Clerk cum Typist is next with 600, then Accounts Clerk cum Typist with 200, and Trains Clerk with 188.

Post	Pay Level	Starting basic pay	Medical standard	Seats
Commercial cum Ticket Clerk	3	Rs 21,700	B2	700
Junior Clerk cum Typist	2	Rs 19,900	C2	600
Accounts Clerk cum Typist	2	Rs 19,900	C2	200
Trains Clerk	2	Rs 19,900	A3	188
Total				1,688

The category split across all posts is 686 UR, 414 OBC-NCL, 258 SC, 167 ST and 163 EWS. Of the 1,688, 162 seats are for ex-servicemen. The seats are provisional and can be increased, decreased or revised by the Railway Administration.

Kolkata has the most seats among the boards, 329, followed by Chennai with 168, Prayagraj with 149, Mumbai with 140 and Ajmer with 124. At the other end, Muzaffarpur has only 7. You apply to only one RRB, so the board you pick matters — check the RRB-wise and post-wise distribution in Annexure B of the notification before you choose, because the board and the post preferences you pick cannot be changed later, even in the correction window.

One change from the last cycle is worth knowing before you apply. There is no typing test this time, even for the two "cum Typist" posts. The notification says typing will be checked after joining instead, and poor typing can delay confirmation or promotion — so the CBT 2 score alone decides who gets the job.

Who can apply

All four posts need 12th (10+2 stage) or its equivalent with at least 50% marks in aggregate. The 50% rule does not apply to SC, ST, PwBD and ex-servicemen candidates, or to anyone with a qualification higher than 12th, such as a degree. You must hold the qualification by 13 November 2026 — candidates waiting for their final result cannot apply. Graduates can apply too, and because this is a separate CEN from the graduate notification, applying for both is allowed.

Age is counted as on 1 January 2027, with 18 as the minimum and 30 as the upper limit for every post. Relaxation is 3 years for OBC-NCL and 5 years for SC and ST. PwBD candidates get 10 years (UR/EWS), 13 years (OBC) or 15 years (SC/ST). Ex-servicemen get 3, 6 or 8 years after deducting the length of service, depending on category. There is no COVID relaxation this time — that was a one-time measure in the 2024 cycle.

The medical standard matters most for Trains Clerk, which needs A3 — the strictest of the three, including distant vision of 6/9 in both eyes and tests for colour, binocular and night vision. Commercial cum Ticket Clerk needs B2, and the two clerk-typist posts need only C2. If you fail the medical for the post you opted for, the notification says you will not be offered another post, so rank your preferences with that in mind.

The fee, and the refund most people miss

The fee is Rs 500 for General, OBC and EWS candidates, and Rs 250 for the concession categories: SC, ST, ex-servicemen, PwBD, female, transgender, minority and EBC candidates. EBC here is not OBC or EWS — to claim the Rs 250 fee as EBC you need an EBC certificate in the RRB format, a BPL card or an Izzat MST issued on or before 13 November.

The part worth knowing is the refund. Candidates who appear in CBT 1 get Rs 400 back from the Rs 500 fee, or the full Rs 250 back from the concessional fee, minus bank charges. The refund goes to the Aadhaar-seeded bank account, which is why the notification stresses linking your bank account with Aadhaar and keeping the name and date of birth in Aadhaar identical to your 10th class certificate.

Pay online only, by net banking, debit or credit card, or UPI. The fee can still be paid until 15 November 2026 for an application submitted by 13 November. Each correction in the 16 to 25 November window costs Rs 250 and is not refundable.

How the selection works

Selection has four steps: CBT 1, then CBT 2, then document verification, then a medical examination.

CBT 1 is the screening test: 100 questions in 90 minutes — 40 on General Awareness, 30 on Mathematics and 30 on General Intelligence and Reasoning. CBT 2 is the merit test: 120 questions in 90 minutes — 50 on General Awareness, 35 on Mathematics and 35 on General Intelligence and Reasoning. Both papers carry negative marking of one-third of a mark for each wrong answer, and both are available in English, Hindi and 13 regional languages.

The minimum qualifying marks in CBT 1 are 40% for UR and EWS, 30% for OBC and SC, and 25% for ST. CBT 1 only shortlists — the boards call 15 times the vacancies to CBT 2 — and it is the CBT 2 score that decides the merit list. Candidates equal to the number of vacancies are then called for document verification, followed by the medical examination.

How to apply without getting rejected

Apply only at rrbapply.gov.in, and create your account with a valid mobile number and email ID. If you already have an account from an earlier RRB CEN, use the same login. Authenticate your identity with Aadhaar or DigiLocker while creating the account — candidates using other photo IDs face stricter scrutiny at every stage.

Choose one RRB and rank your post and zone preferences in order. If you leave a post out, the board treats it as "not interested", and options cannot be changed later. Fill in your details, capture your live photo, upload the required documents, and pay the fee online by 15 November. Submit before 11:59 pm on 13 November 2026 and keep a copy of the confirmation page.

Two warnings from the notification itself. Submitting more than one application leads to rejection of all applications and can get you debarred from future RRB exams. And the details filled in the "Create an Account" form, and the chosen RRB, cannot be changed in the modification window — so get those right the first time.

What the notification does not say

The notification names no CBT 1 date — that is to be announced on rrb.indianrailways.gov.in. It names no exam city or admit card date either, so do not trust any site that prints one. It also leaves the vacancies provisional, so a post's numbers can move before the merit list. And it sets no joining date, because appointment follows document verification and medical examination.

Never pay anyone who promises to get you a seat. Genuine recruitment never charges a fee beyond what the notification itself names, and this notification names Rs 500, or Rs 250 for the concession categories, payable online only through the official portal.

A similar railway opening runs alongside this one: RRB has also opened 191 Isolated Categories posts, for specialist roles under CEN 09/2026, with applications open till 4 December — that one needs a degree or a specialist qualification for most posts, so it suits a different set of candidates. ONGC has opened 3,047 apprentice seats, also with applications closing soon, on 20 November — that one is a 12-month apprenticeship with a stipend and no exam.

Sources: Railway Recruitment Boards, Centralised Employment Notification (CEN) No. 07/2026, detailed notification (57 pages) published 15 October 2026. NOTE: the official PDF itself was not opened from this browser, so the figures above are NOT verified from the PDF directly. They were cross-checked across seven independent sites that reproduce the notification — Dishalu, Odisha Jobs Desk, Daily Assam Job, Current Affairs Pulse, Easy Applications, Emitra Wala and SRN247 — and all seven agree on the post-wise vacancies, pay levels, age limit, fee and refund, exam pattern and dates. The 50% marks rule, including its waiver for SC, ST, PwBD, ex-servicemen and higher-qualification holders, was re-checked on 10 November 2026 against the same sources. Apply only through rrbapply.gov.in.