As per constitutional provisions, Ministries/Departments are required to consult Commission for framing/amendment of RRs for all Group‘A’ and ‘B’ posts except those which are exempted from consultation with UPSC under UPSC (Exemption from Consultation) Regulations, 1958, as amended from time to time. In case RRs of any post for which consultation with UPSC is required, are notified without its consultation, they are treated as Non-est.

Recruitment is a process of selection of candidates to a designated post and Recruitment Rules are the provisions prescribed under the Statute, for executing the same. The UPSC is required to advise upon the Recruitment Rules for various Civil Posts which are mandated to it, under the Constitution of India or for equivalent posts through a specific Act governing a statutory organization.

Service Rules are framed for defined Organized Service(s) to the Union of India and are comprehensive statutory documents, which include among others the specification with regard to,
a). Title and definitions
b). Authorized / c). Initial / e). Liabilities
c).Initial constitution and future maintenance
d). Seniority, qualifying service for promotion, probation & method of recruitment
e).Liabilities and disqualification
f). Relaxation provisions
g). Savings clause Recruitment Rules are framed for posts which are not covered by Organized Services. The Recruitment Rules do not contain many Clause (s) of Service Rules of Organized Service(s) and contain a Notification along with a prescribed 13 Columns Schedule. The Schedule contains details of various provisions such as number of posts, Classification, Pay Level, Method of Recruitment, Educational Qualifications for direct recruits etc.

Clause 3 of Article 320 of the Constitution of India inter alia stipulates the matters on which UPSC is required to be consulted. Proviso to said clause provides for making regulations to specify the matters in which either generally, or in any particular class or case or in any particular circumstances, it shall not be necessary to consult Public Service Commission. Accordingly, Government has notified UPSC (Exemption from Consultation) Regulations, 1958, amended from time to time, specifying the services and posts which are exempted from consultation with UPSC in regard to matters specified in Article 320.

In accordance with the mandate assigned under Article 321 of the Constitution, the Organizations, established under an Act of the Parliament, where the requirement of mandatory consultation with the UPSC is specified under a designated Section of that Act, are required to seek the advice of the UPSC for purpose of framing and amendment of Recruitment Rules for posts under their organization(s) corresponding to Group A and Group B posts under the central government. Example of such organizations are :- the New Delhi Municipal Council, Municipal Corporation of Delhi, Employees State Insurance Corporation, Employees Provident Fund Organization, Delhi Jal Board, etc.

Recruitment Rules prescribe various specifications relating to classification of post, pay structure, method of recruitment, composition of Departmental Promotion/ Confirmation Committee(s), essential qualifications & consultation process with the UPSC etc. These are based on extant Guidelines of the DoP&T, which are revised/ updated from time to time. The change(s) in the cadre structure and essential qualifications to a given post etc., also require due amendments in the specific column(s) of the Recruitment Rules. DoP&T guidelines accordingly provide that the Recruitment Rules may be reviewed once in every five years, to make necessary amendments as per changed position.

a). The proposal for framing or amendment of Recruitment Rules is initiated by the concerned Administrative Ministry with the approval of the Competent Authority. The Competent Authority can delegate the specified power(s).
b). Consequent upon the said approval, the proposal is required to be submitted to the DoP&T for concurrence.
c). After the concurrence of the DoP&T to the proposal for framing / amendment of recruitment rules, the proposal is submitted to UPSC for posts/ services which come within its purview. Advice of the UPSC is conveyed to the Ministry / Organization concerned.
d). The Recruitment Rules are then sent by the concerned Ministry to the Ministry of Law & Justice for vetting.
e). Subsequently, the Recruitment Rules are required to be notified in the Official Gazette of the government of India.

Before referring any proposal for framing/amendment of Recruitment Rules of a post to DOPT, Ministries/Departments are required to put up proposed Recruitment Rules on their website for 30 days for inviting comments from the stakeholders. Thereafter, taking into account the comments so received, the proposal is to be sent.

Single Window System (SWS) is now used for receiving proposals for framing/ amendment of Service Rules and Certain RRs, which are brought in offline mode by Competent administrative Deptt. for various reasons.
The Administrative Ministry is required to designate an Officer not below the rank of Under Secretary to bring the proposal under SWS. The Under Secretaries in RR Branch in the Commission are authorized to accept the proposals from Ministries / Departments assigned to them. The Proposal is evaluated through a preliminary scrutiny, based upon a pre-defined Check-List, which specifies the documents and information.
In case the proposal is found to be incomplete, the reasons thereof are recorded on-the-spot and intimated to the Official from the Ministry / Department concerned for necessary compliance. Proposals complete in all respects are accepted and processed by the Commission.

Recruitment Rules Formulation, Amendment and Monitoring System (RRFAMS) is an online portal for submission of proposals for framing / Amendment of Recruitment Rules and is operational in UPSC since 03.12.2018. RR proposals approved by DoP&T on RRFAMS portal are now being received in the Commission online. Proposals from concerned Statutory Organizations and Union Territories as well as proposals for one time mode of recruitment in the absence of recruitment rules are also being received in the Commission directly on the portal. Advice of the Commission on such proposals is also conveyed to the concerned Administrative Department online.
The proposals for framing/amendment of Service Rules are being received in offline mode through the Single Window System as RRFAMS was designed to capture fields of Recruitment Rules only. Proposals which necessitates processing on file are also being received by the Commission under the Single Window System. This system provides for preliminary scrutiny of proposals based upon a pre-defined check-list and ensures that proposals complete in all respect are accepted in Commission

RRFAMS portal includes enabling provision to seek clarification from Department online, if required. Ministry/Department can also upload documents in support of their responses. Further, there is mechanism to call Ministry/Department online for meeting at various levels in UPSC to discuss the proposal. Meeting is scheduled online and minutes of discussion held in the meeting are also conveyed through portal.

UPSC has devised a Check-list of the points on which necessary information/ documents are required to be provided while referring proposals to UPSC. The Check-list is available on the website of UPSC. It is being used for receipt of proposals with effect from 01.05.2015. It contains points relating to methods of recruitment, submission of annexures prescribed under DOPT guidelines, covering notification, educational qualifications, documents relating to creation, merger, redesignation of posts etc. Check list facilities the Department to furnish complete proposal. The points contained in check-list have been incorporated in RRFAMS portal. Accordingly, while submitting proposals online on RRFAMS portal, Department is required to furnish the relevant information / upload necessary documents on the portal.

The proposals, which are brought for consideration in the SWS or submitted online on RRFAMS Portal, are generally found to have the following deficiencies:-
a). Approval of the Competent Authority, authorized to approve the draft proposal, is not enclosed
b). Relevant document(s) required are not enclosed
c). Certificate of Court Case(s) (i.e., the proposal being not subjudice / under consideration of any Court), is not enclosed
d). Necessary orders relating to creation/abolition/merger of posts are not enclosed in support of change in no. of posts
e). Educational qualifications are not commensurate with duties and responsibilities of post.
f). Ambiguous domain experience in experience clause, which could result in difficulty of interpretation at the time of recruitment.

Qualifying Service is the minimum residency period prescribed in the Service Rules / Recruitment Rules that an incumbent has to serve in a Grade on a regular basis before being eligible to be promoted to the next higher grade. DoPT issues instructions from time to time presenting minimum eligibility service required for promotion from one level to another.

DOP&T guidelines dated 31.12.2010 on framing/amendment/ relaxation of Recruitment Rules provide that the Ministries/ Departments should clearly specify the educational qualifications and avoid usage of the term ‘or equivalent’. Ministries/Departments are required to clearly prescribe an exhaustive list of educational qualifications to match the duties and responsibilities of the post.

UPSC is associated with the DPC in all cases of promotion to Group ‘A’ posts except where promotion is from Level-10 to Level-11.

UPSC is not required to be associated with Departmental Confirmation Committee for considering confirmation.

In case of newly created Posts, for which Recruitment Rules are not yet framed,or posts for which RR are repealed, and these posts are required to be filled on urgent basis, concerned Ministry / Department can make a reference to UPSC for determination of one-time method of recruitment for filling up the post in the absence of Recruitment Rules. This method of recruitment is available once only and cannot be used again. Department is required to frame Recruitment Rules in the meantime for further filling up of posts. This mode cannot be invoked in cases where Recruitment Rules exist but have become inoperable for any reasons.

Recruitment Rules contain a ‘Power to Relax’ clause as per which relaxation of certain provisions in Recruitment Rules can be resorted to in respect of a class or category of persons. On the other hand, one time mode of recruitment is sought by Ministries / Departments in cases where Recruitment Rules for a post do not exist and there are overriding compulsions for filling up the post in the absence of Recruitment Rules.

Ministry / Department can seek review of advice of UPSC before notification, giving detailed justification for the same. In case justification is considered appropriate by the Commission, revised advice is conveyed to the Ministry / Department. However, in case reasons for review are not considered justified by the Commission, Ministry / Department is informed accordingly with the request to notify the Recruitment Rules already advised. Review mechanism is also available on RRFAMS portal in case of online proposals.

As stated above, Ministry/Department can seek review of advice of UPSC, if required. However, in case Ministry/Department notifies any recruitment rules at variance with the advice of UPSC, such cases are treated as non-acceptance of advice of the Commission. Details of such cases of disagreement are mentioned in Annual Report of UPSC.

The Recruitment Rules should be notified by the Ministry / Department concerned within ten weeks of the receipt of the Advice of UPSC. Ministries / Departments are also required to furnish a copy of the notified Rules to UPSC for record. In so far as proposals processed online on RRFAMS portal, Ministries are required to upload a copy of notification on RRFAMS portal. Cases, where notified Rules are not received / uploaded, are mentioned in the Annual Report of the UPSC, which is placed before the Parliament.