DGCA publishes one fee for Flight Crew Licence examinations: Rs 2,500 per paper. It is not refundable under any circumstances, including where your examination form is rejected. Both facts come from DGCA’s own Flight Crew FAQ, questions 13 and 14. Everything worth knowing about budgeting your exams follows from those two sentences.
What DGCA publishes
| Item | What DGCA states |
|---|---|
| Fee per paper | Rs 2,500 for Flight Crew Licence online examination |
| Refunds | Not refundable under any circumstances, including a rejected form |
| OLODE fee | No separate figure published |
| Computer number fee | Not mentioned |
| Legal basis for fees | Rule 48, Aircraft Rules 1937 |
Source: DGCA Pariksha Flight Crew FAQ, questions 13 and 14; CAR Section 7, Series ‘B’, Part I for the fee’s legal basis.
The Rs 5,000 figure, and why it is not here
A great deal of Indian aviation content states that the Online On-Demand Examination costs Rs 5,000 per paper against Rs 2,500 for a regular session. We stated it too, on three pages, footnoted to the DGCA FAQ.
That FAQ does not contain it. It gives one fee, Rs 2,500 per paper, and names no OLODE-specific amount. We could not find a primary source for Rs 5,000 anywhere, so we have removed it from our pages rather than keep a number whose only support is that everyone repeats it.
This is not an argument that the figure is wrong. It may well be correct and simply unpublished. The point is narrower and more useful to you: we cannot show you where it comes from, so you should not budget from it — and neither should anyone else quoting it without a source. The portal shows the amount when you book. That is the number that binds.
What a CPL exam budget actually looks like
The fee is the easy part. The arithmetic that matters is about attempts.
- Four CPL theory papers at Rs 2,500 = Rs 10,000, if each clears first time.
- Every resit is another Rs 2,500. Not a discount, not a partial fee.
- A rejected form is money gone, not money held. This is why document errors are expensive: a wrong file format or a missing Board Verification Certificate does not just delay you.
So the honest planning number is not Rs 10,000. It is Rs 10,000 plus whatever your failure rate costs, and that is the figure a preparation decision should be weighed against. One avoided resit is Rs 2,500 plus a lost session — which is the real thing structured preparation is insuring you against, if you are deciding whether to pay for it.
What is not the exam fee
Three costs get conflated with it, and they are separate purchases:
- Ground classes. Paid to a ground school, not DGCA, and not required to sit the papers.
- Flying training. Paid to a DGCA-approved Flying Training Organisation. This is the largest cost in a licence by a wide margin, and it has nothing to do with the examination fee.
- RTR(A). A separate radio-telephony examination with its own syllabus, practical component and administration.
Before you pay
- Confirm the amount in the Pariksha portal at the time of booking. Treat it as authoritative over any published figure, ours included.
- Check every document before Final Submit — nothing can be uploaded afterwards, and a rejection costs the fee.
- Do not book a paper you are not finished preparing for. The fee does not care.
Frequently asked questions
How much is the DGCA exam fee per paper?
Rs 2,500 per paper for Flight Crew Licence online examination, per DGCA's published Flight Crew FAQ.
Is the DGCA exam fee refundable?
No. DGCA states the fee paid once for examination is not refundable under any circumstances, including where the examination form is rejected.
Does OLODE cost more than a regular session?
DGCA publishes no separate fee for the Online On-Demand Examination route. A Rs 5,000 OLODE figure is repeated widely online but has no primary source behind it. Check the amount shown in the portal when you book.
How much do all four CPL papers cost?
At Rs 2,500 per paper, four papers cost Rs 10,000 if each clears on the first attempt. Every resit is another full fee, so the real figure depends on your pass rate, not the fee.
Is there a fee for the computer number itself?
DGCA's FAQ states a fee for examinations and does not mention a separate charge for the computer number. We have not found a primary source either way, so we do not claim it is free.
Does the exam fee include ground classes?
No. The examination fee is paid to DGCA. Ground classes are a separate purchase from a separate provider, and are not required to sit the papers.
Related
- OLODE vs regular sessions: what actually differs
- Getting your DGCA computer number
- Are ground classes worth paying for?
Fees are revised. Verify on pariksha.dgca.gov.in before paying.