Regular vs On-Demand DGCA Exam Session: Which Should You Book?

Regular or on-demand: which should you book?

If you can wait for the next regular session, book that. It is half the price. The on-demand route exists for the student whose timeline cannot wait, and for that student the extra ₹2,500 per paper is the price of getting the paper out of the way sooner. The decision comes down to arithmetic and calendar, and both are laid out below.

DGCA runs its written papers through the Pariksha portal. The 5 CPL theory papers are Air Navigation, Aviation Meteorology, Air Regulations, Technical General and Technical Specific, and a candidate needs a computer number before booking any of them. This post covers only the choice between the two kinds of session.

What actually differs

On the published rules, one thing differs: the fee. Each paper is ₹2,500 in a regular session and ₹5,000 in an Online On-Demand Examination. Everything that decides whether you pass is the same. A candidate who secures a minimum of 70% marks in the theoretical knowledge examination of a particular subject is declared PASS. The 70% applies to each subject on its own. There is no aggregate, and a strong paper does not carry a weak one.

The other difference is frequency. The regular sessions come four times a year; the on-demand sessions come eight times. More sessions means shorter waits, and shorter waits are what the higher fee buys.

Both kinds share the same booking rules. A candidate may apply only once in a particular session. Payment is made only through the Government of India NTRP portal Bharatkosh, by net banking, credit card or debit card. Once the examination form is submitted successfully, no change is entertained and the fee is neither adjusted nor refunded — including where the application is rejected.

The 2026 calendar side by side

These are the sessions DGCA lists for 2026. DGCA publishes these dates as tentative and subject to change for gazetted holidays, festivals and similar reasons. Confirm against the public notice on the Pariksha portal before planning travel.

Read down the rows only as two lists; the dates in one column do not line up with the other. What the lists show is the spacing. Regular sessions sit about three months apart. On-demand sessions sit closer together, in places only a couple of weeks apart, and each is a three-day window. Miss a regular session and the next is a quarter away; miss an on-demand one and the next is often within weeks, at double the fee.

What the doubled fee adds up to

These are examination fees only, paid to the government through Bharatkosh. The bank may add a nominal service charge or applicable taxes on top of the fee. Coaching, books and travel are separate and vary by provider.

A student who sits all 5 papers on demand pays ₹12,500 more than one who sits them in a regular session. For a family already funding flight training, that is a figure to decide on deliberately, not stumble into.

When paying double makes sense

• A paper is about to lapse. Cleared papers count for a limited window before you apply, as para 6.7 of Civil Aviation Requirement, Section 7, Series 'B', Part I, Rev. 2 dated 13 February 2019 sets out. If a retake has to land before the window closes and the next regular session falls after it, the extra fee can be cheaper than restarting the paper. See the validity post.
• One paper is holding up everything else. If four papers are cleared and a flying or licence application is waiting on the fifth, a one-paper on-demand booking costs ₹2,500 extra and may save months.
• You have just missed a regular session. A fee for a session you did not sit is not carried forward, so the next paper needs a fresh application and fee.

Paying double does not make sense when nothing is waiting on the result. A student still in ground classes, with no flying start date, gains little from sitting early at twice the price. Use the regular session and spend the difference on revision.

What this post cannot tell you

The figures and dates above come from DGCA Pariksha, read on 2026-09-11, and DGCA can change them. The published rules we could read do not say how an on-demand slot is allotted, which papers are offered in every on-demand session, or how soon after a session the result appears, so this post does not say either. Check the live notice on the Pariksha portal and the Programme of Examinations 2026 before you pay.

Ground classes at We One Aviation

We teach the DGCA ground subjects from Dwarka and can help you work backwards from a target session to a study plan, so a retake never has to be an on-demand scramble. See our DGCA ground classes and the CPL eligibility page.

We teach the DGCA ground subjects and arrange flight training with partner flying schools. We do not own aircraft or simulators, we do not employ pilots, and we do not place students into airline jobs — hiring decisions rest with the operator.