What are all 24 services allotted through the UPSC Civil Services Examination?

The CSE is a single gateway to ~24 Group A and Group B services. The marquee 'big three' (IAS, IPS, IFS) capture all the limelight, but services like IRS, IAAS, IDAS and ICAS run the financial, fiscal and audit machinery of the Union; smaller services like IIS, ITS and ICLS handle communication, telecom and corporate law. Knowing what each does — and the latest CSE 2026 vacancy split (933 posts) — helps you fill DAF-2 preferences with conviction, not FOMO.

Think of the CSE service list as a 'cabinet' that runs the Republic. Here is how mentors typically group them, with the verified CSE 2024 and CSE 2026 vacancy split so you can sense the real competition for each chair.

All India Services (3)

IAS — Indian Administrative Service: District administration, state secretariat, Union Government policy roles.
IPS — Indian Police Service: Law and order, internal security, intelligence, CAPF leadership.
IFoS — Indian Forest Service: Recruited via the separate IFoS exam (preceded by CSE Prelims), so technically not a CSE service post-2013, but listed by DoPT for cadre allocation alongside the AIS.

Group A Central Services — Diplomacy, Tax & Audit

IFS — Indian Foreign Service: Embassies, MEA, multilateral diplomacy.
IRS (IT) — Indian Revenue Service (Income Tax): Direct tax administration under CBDT.
IRS (C&IT) — Indian Revenue Service (Customs & Indirect Taxes): GST, Customs, Narcotics under CBIC.
IAAS — Indian Audit & Accounts Service: Constitutional audit under CAG.
ICAS — Indian Civil Accounts Service: Payments and accounting of the Union under CGA.
IDAS — Indian Defence Accounts Service: Audit and accounting for the Armed Forces and DRDO.
IDES — Indian Defence Estates Service: Cantonment Boards and defence land management.
IPoS — Indian Postal Service: India Post operations and policy.
IP&TAFS — Indian P&T Accounts & Finance Service: Finance arm of DoT.
IRMS — Indian Railway Management Service: Unified Group A cadre that has subsumed IRPS, IRTS, IRAS, IRSME, IRSEE, IRSSE and IRSS for fresh recruits.
IIS — Indian Information Service: PIB, DD News, AIR, government communication.
ITS — Indian Trade Service: DGFT, trade policy and foreign trade.
ICLS — Indian Corporate Law Service: MCA, Registrar of Companies, NCLT support.

Group B Services (DANICS/DANIPS belt)

DANICS — civil service for Delhi, Andaman & Nicobar, Lakshadweep, Daman & Diu, Dadra & Nagar Haveli.
DANIPS — police counterpart for the same UTs.
PONDICS / PONDIPS — Pondicherry Civil and Police Services.
AFHCS — Armed Forces Headquarters Civil Service: civilian staff arm of the MoD HQ.

Vacancy snapshot

UPSC's notification gives only the headline total (CSE 2024: 1,056; CSE 2026: 933), not a service-wise split — DoPT allocates against actual cadre gaps after the result. So treat any service-wise breakup (IAS/IPS/IFS/IRS counts) as an estimate, and rely on the official notification and the post-result service-allocation list for exact numbers. The overall 2026 total is lower than 2024, reflecting cadre-gap-based vacancy computation under the DoPT OM dated 23 January 2026 (see the cadre-allocation FAQ).

Worked scenario — fitting your DAF-2 to the math

If in CSE 2026 you are a General-category aspirant expecting AIR 90-130, here is how the funnel works on a typical year:

Top ~95 General ranks usually absorb all 180 IAS, minus category-specific carve-outs.
IFS (40 seats) closes by roughly AIR 90 General.
IPS (150 seats) keeps the door open up to roughly AIR 200-250 General.
IRS-IT (180) and IRS-C&IT (94) run deep into AIR 400-600.

Mentor tip: Don't rank services by Twitter prestige. An IAAS officer auditing the Defence budget influences the Republic as much as an SDM auditing a tehsil. UPSC 2023 AIR-1 Aditya Srivastava had already secured IPS (AIR 236 in CSE 2022) before re-attempting for IAS — a reminder that the "right" service is about your own fit, not prestige rankings. Read the role, talk to serving officers, and then rank.