Sub-Inspector salary

A Sub-Inspector recruited through the SSC CPO examination is a Level 6 post, in Delhi Police or one of the Central Armed Police Forces, with an entry basic of Rs. 35,400 a month. It is a graduate-level police officer entry, two levels above the CAPF Constable , and in a peace posting the in-hand is about Rs. 66,000 a month in an X-class city, more for a CAPF Sub-Inspector in a field posting drawing the Risk and Hardship Allowance.

This page sets out that pay: the entry basic and the in-hand, the two posts the examination fills and the field allowances one of them carries, the SSC CPO examination and the Delhi Police driving-licence rule, and the career ladder above. The take-home for the level is worked out by the salary by pay level calculator , set to Level 6. This page covers the central Sub-Inspector posts; a Sub-Inspector in a state police force is recruited by the state and paid on the state’s pay scales, which is a separate matter.

Pay and in-hand at a glance

A Sub-Inspector sits at Level 6 of the pay matrix , so the entry basic is Rs. 35,400. The figure below is for a peace posting in an X-class city.

Income tax is nil at this income under either regime. The figure is the peace-posting pay drawing house rent allowance; a CAPF Sub-Inspector in a field posting often lives in a barrack, so the house rent allowance is replaced by free accommodation, and the field allowances raise the pay, as the next section explains.

Two posts, one pay level

The SSC CPO examination fills two Sub-Inspector posts, and they are paid the same but classified differently.

The Sub-Inspector in the Central Armed Police Forces, the BSF, CRPF, CISF, ITBP, and SSB, is a Group B non-gazetted post. The Sub-Inspector in Delhi Police is classified Group C. Both are at Level 6 with the same entry basic of Rs. 35,400, so the pay is identical; the difference is the classification and the force. Delhi Police is the police of the National Capital Territory, administered by the Ministry of Home Affairs, so a Delhi Police Sub-Inspector is a central government employee on the same pay matrix as the CAPF Sub-Inspector, not a state-police officer.

The CAPF field allowances

The pay of a CAPF Sub-Inspector, like that of the CAPF Constable , rises in field and operational postings through the same allowances, which a Delhi Police Sub-Inspector on ordinary duty does not draw.

The Risk and Hardship Allowance is paid on the 7th CPC matrix of cells for a hard posting, from Rs. 6,000 a month for a counter-insurgency posting in a peace area up to Rs. 21,000 for the highest cell, and it is largely exempt from income tax for the armed forces of the Union. The Ration Money Allowance is paid in cash in all postings, and the Dress Allowance for the uniform is paid yearly. So a CAPF Sub-Inspector deployed in a hard area draws materially more than the peace-posting figure above, while a Delhi Police Sub-Inspector draws the standard Level 6 pay with the city allowances. The central armed police forces article covers the field-allowance framework.

The SSC CPO examination

A Sub-Inspector is recruited through the SSC Combined Police Organisation examination, conducted by the Staff Selection Commission , a graduate-level examination unlike the Class-10 Constable examination.

The selection runs in stages, and the order matters. Paper I is a computer-based test of 200 questions for 200 marks in two hours, across four sections, general intelligence and reasoning, general knowledge and general awareness, quantitative aptitude, and English comprehension, with a negative mark of a quarter for a wrong answer. Candidates who clear Paper I sit the physical standard test and the physical efficiency test, and only those who qualify go on to Paper II, a computer-based test on English language and comprehension, also 200 marks. A detailed medical examination and document verification follow. The final merit is built from Paper I and Paper II together; the physical and medical tests are qualifying only. The physical standard test checks height and, for men, chest, and the physical efficiency test is a set of runs and jumps.

The Delhi Police driving-licence rule

The Delhi Police Sub-Inspector carries one requirement the CAPF post does not, and it catches many candidates out.

A male candidate for the Delhi Police Sub-Inspector must hold a valid LMV driving licence for a motorcycle and a car by the date of the physical test. A male candidate without it is not eligible for the Delhi Police post, though he can still be considered for the CAPF Sub-Inspector. A learner’s licence does not count, and it cannot be produced later, a position the Delhi High Court upheld in 2026. The requirement is not applied to female candidates. So a male aspirant who wants the Delhi Police post must have the full driving licence in hand before the physical test.

Eligibility

The qualification is a bachelor’s degree from a recognised university, for both posts. The age band is 20 to 25 years, with the standard relaxations, five years for the Scheduled Castes and Tribes and three for the Other Backward Classes, and a wider relaxation for serving departmental candidates. The physical standards, the height and the chest and the running and jumping tests, are part of the eligibility, and the Delhi Police driving licence is the additional condition for male candidates for that post.

The career ladder

A Sub-Inspector rises into the inspector and officer ranks, and the ladder differs a little between the two forces.

In Delhi Police, a Sub-Inspector is promoted to Inspector at Level 7, the station house officer rank, and then to Assistant Commissioner of Police, the first gazetted rank. In the CAPFs, a Sub-Inspector rises to Inspector at Level 7 and then to Assistant Commandant, the first gazetted officer rank, which is also filled directly through a separate UPSC examination. Where regular promotion is slow, the Modified Assured Career Progression scheme grants a financial upgradation after 10, 20, and 30 years of service. The salary by pay level chart shows the pay at each rung.

Pension

A Sub-Inspector who joined after 1 January 2004 is covered by the National Pension System , contributing 10 per cent of basic plus dearness allowance against the government’s 14 per cent, or by the Unified Pension Scheme if opted from 1 April 2025. The Old Pension Scheme is closed to post-2004 entrants, though there is a long-standing demand to restore it for the forces.

How it compares

The Sub-Inspector is the graduate officer entry to the central police forces, two levels and a large step in pay above the CAPF Constable , who enters at Level 3 on a Class 10 pass. A constable can rise to Sub-Inspector through the ranks over a career, but the Sub-Inspector is directly recruited at Level 6 through the SSC CPO examination. Against the graduate posts of the SSC CGL examination, the Sub-Inspector at Level 6 sits alongside the Junior Statistical Officer and below the Level 7 Income Tax Inspector . The central government jobs hub sets the police entries in the wider map.

See also

• CAPF Constable salary
• Central Armed Police Forces
• Risk and Hardship Allowance
• Delhi Police
• Staff Selection Commission
• SSC CGL salary
• Income Tax Inspector salary
• Salary by pay level
• Salary by pay level calculator
• 7th CPC salary calculator
• Central government jobs
• Pay matrix
• 7th Central Pay Commission
• Take-home salary of central government employees
• Dearness allowance
• House rent allowance
• Transport allowance
• Modified Assured Career Progression
• National Pension System
• Unified Pension Scheme
• Central government employees in India

External references

• Staff Selection Commission
• Delhi Police
• Ministry of Home Affairs
• Border Security Force
• Department of Expenditure