Eligibility Criteria

Here are the conditions that a member needs to satisfy:

• The member should not be more than 65 years old as of 20th February 2026.
• They should be a continued member of ICAI since 1st November 2023.
• There should not be any criminal record or disciplinary proceedings against the member.
• They should not have any family members or relatives or dependents appearing in the May 2026 exams.
• The members should not be giving coaching to students for any of the exams or tests conducted by the ICAI branches, private tuitions, or regional councils.
• They should not be linked with the institute as elected or co-opted members of the Council, Regional Council or Managing Committee of any branch of the ICAI.

Also, the members should note that there should be a cooling-off period for one attempt after three consecutive attempts for observership duties.

Duties and Responsibilities of ICAI Exam Observer

The main duty of the ICAI exam observer is to ensure that the question papers are collected from the bank where they are kept safely and are distributed among the candidates. They are required to stay at the exam centre until the answer books are collected, reconciled, packed and given to the designated courier agency for dispatch to the Examination Department.

Honorarium

The ICAI exam observer will receive Rs 3,750 per day per session, along with a conveyance reimbursement of Rs 500 per day for ‘A’ class cities and Rs 400 per day for ‘B’ class cities.

• ‘A’ Class Cities: Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, Delhi, Hyderabad/Secunderabad, Jaipur, Kanpur, Kolkata, Lucknow, Mumbai, Nagpur, and Pune.
• The remaining cities are classified into ‘B’ class cities.

How to Apply?

• The window for empanelment is open until 19th March 2026.
• The eligible members can apply online at http://observers.icaiexam.icai.org.
• The tentative date for hosting the details of self-selection of observer assignment is the last week of April 2026.