HP Police Constable Recruitment 2026 via HPPSC: 734 Posts

Himachal Pradesh has opened a major police constable recruitment, and two things about it surprise applicants: your school matters more than your stopwatch, and the fee is the same 600 rupees for everyone. HP Police Constable Recruitment 2026, run through HPPSC, fills 734 posts (491 male and 243 female). Online applications ran from 10 July to 5 September 2026, after two extensions of the original closing date of 6 August, and the form is now closed. The physical tests (PST and PET) are scheduled from 22 October to 5 December 2026. Here is exactly how it works.

HP Police Constable 2026 at a Glance

One structural point up front: the Ward of Ex-Servicemen quota exists only on the female side (36 of the 243 female posts). PwD candidates are not eligible for constable posts under these rules.

The Himachal Study Rule Most Outsiders Miss

This recruitment is effectively for Himachal candidates, and the reason is a specific clause. The notification requires that you passed both your 10th and your 12th from an institution, school or board situated within Himachal Pradesh. There is one exemption: bonafide Himachalis are freed from this condition, so a bonafide Himachali may have studied outside the state. Put simply, if you are not a bonafide Himachali, you must have done your schooling inside HP to be eligible. On top of that, all reservation benefits (SC, ST, OBC, EWS and the special quotas) are given only to bonafide residents of Himachal Pradesh, and a bonafide Himachali certificate must be uploaded wherever it applies. If you are from outside the state without HP schooling, this is not an open door.

Your Merit Is the Written Test, Not the Race

Candidates often assume a police job is won on the ground. Here it is won on paper. The final merit is built out of 100 marks, and the race does not contribute a single one:

• Written examination: 90 marks, conducted by HPPSC. This is the whole engine of your rank.
• Height: 6 marks, awarded from the physical standard test, one mark per inch above the minimum height.
• NCC certificate: 4 marks (C certificate 4, B certificate 2, A certificate 1; only the highest counts).

The physical efficiency test, the race and jumps, is purely pass or fail and carries no marks. Home Guards of Himachal Pradesh are exempt from the PET / Ground Test in this recruitment (HPPSC addendum of 22 October 2026). There is no interview. A candidate who scores zero or negative in the written paper is dropped from the merit list regardless of anything else. So the written exam is where this recruitment is decided, and it is where your preparation time should go.

Physical Standards and the Race You Must Clear

Before the written exam, HP Police conducts the physical standard test (PST) and the physical efficiency test (PET). HPPSC’s press note of 14 October 2026 says they will run from 22 October to 5 December 2026, with a district-wise schedule from the Police Department. It adds that e-call letters have been uploaded to the User IDs of provisionally admitted candidates. The PST checks height and, for men, chest; the PET is a qualifying race and jumps. Home Guards of Himachal Pradesh are exempt from the PET / Ground Test in this recruitment (HPPSC addendum of 22 October 2026). That addendum does not mention the PST. The standards set in the advertisements are:

The race allows no extra attempt, and failing any single event ends your PET on the spot. Note the height-marks quirk: the minimum height earns zero marks, and the 6 marks are only gained inch by inch above it, so a taller candidate carries a real merit advantage into the final list.

The Written Paper and Its Blank-Answer Penalty

The written test is an offline OMR paper of 90 questions for 90 marks, to be done in 2 hours, at the 10+2 standard and set bilingually in English and Hindi. The rule that catches the careless: there is negative marking of 0.25 for a wrong answer, for multiple answers, and even for a question left blank. To avoid the penalty on a question you do not want to answer, you must darken the “E” option, the deliberate do-not-answer bubble. Simply leaving it empty still costs you 0.25. The detailed syllabus is to be published separately on the HPPSC website, so watch for it there.

Fee, Age and Who Can Apply

• Qualification: passed Matriculation and 10+2, with the Himachal-institution condition explained above.
• Age as on 1 January 2026: 18 to 25 for General and EWS, 18 to 27 for SC, ST and OBC, and 20 to 28 for the Home Guard quota, as advertised. An HPPSC addendum of 3 August 2026 then gave all categories a one-time relaxation of one year in the upper age limit. A later addendum of 21 August 2026 gave Home Guards of Himachal Pradesh a one-time relaxation of five years in the upper age limit. Neither addendum prints revised limits, and the notices do not say how the two relaxations combine for Home Guards. Date of birth is taken strictly from your matriculation certificate.
• Fee: a flat ₹600 for every candidate regardless of category, paid online. There is no reduced reserved-category fee here.

How to Apply on the HPPSC ORA Portal

1. Go to hppsconline.hp.gov.in and complete the One Time Registration (OTR).
2. Open the Constable Male (57/7-2026) or Constable Female (58/7-2026) advertisement and fill the online form.
3. Upload your documents, including a bonafide Himachali certificate where required and your category certificate.
4. Pay the ₹600 fee online on or before the closing date, and save a printout of the submitted form.
5. The online form closed on 5 September 2026 (11:59 PM). HPPSC first moved the last date from 6 August to 21 August 2026, then to 5 September. A separate offline window for Home Guards who had not applied closed on 31 October 2026 (5:00 PM).

This adds to our Himachal Pradesh coverage alongside every HP job and the police jobs we track.

Is It Worth It?

For a Himachali 12th-pass candidate, this is a strong, permanent Level 3 government job where the merit sits in the written exam, so exam preparation pays off directly. The catches are real: you need HP schooling or bonafide-Himachali status, the race is a strict qualifying gate (HP Home Guards are exempt from the PET in this recruitment), and taller candidates start with a small marks edge. The online form closed on 5 September 2026 (extended from 6 August). If you applied, the next step is the PST and PET, scheduled from 22 October to 5 December 2026. Age is still counted as on 1 January 2026, not on today’s date.

HP Police Constable 2026: Your Questions

Can candidates from outside Himachal Pradesh apply?

Only in a limited way. You must have passed 10th and 12th from an institution within Himachal Pradesh, unless you are a bonafide Himachali. Reservation benefits are given only to bonafide HP residents.

What decides the final merit in HP Police Constable 2026?

The written exam (90 marks), plus height marks (6) and NCC marks (4), for a total of 100. The physical efficiency test is only qualifying, and there is no interview.

How many posts are in HP Police Constable 2026?

734 in total, made up of 491 male posts under Advt 57/7-2026 and 243 female posts under Advt 58/7-2026.

What is the HP Police Constable 2026 application fee?

A flat ₹600 for every candidate, regardless of category, paid online. There is no separate reserved-category fee.

What are the HP Police Constable PET running standards?

Men must run 1500 m in 5 minutes 30 seconds and women 800 m in 3 minutes 45 seconds, with no extra attempt. The PET is qualifying only and carries no merit marks. Home Guards of Himachal Pradesh are exempt from the PET / Ground Test in this recruitment (HPPSC addendum of 22 October 2026).

What is the HP Police Constable salary?

The post is in Pay Level 3, a scale of ₹20,200 to ₹64,000, on a regular basis with a two-year probation.

✍️ Published byLokesh Rathore

Lokesh Rathore is a content writer with over 4 years of experience covering Government Jobs, Sarkari Result, Admit Card and Sarkari Yojana. He turns complex official notifications into clear, accurate and easy-to-follow updates for job seekers across India - with every post cross-checked against official government sources.

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