ICAI Certified Copy of Answer Book: How to Apply, Fee and Last Date

You apply for an ICAI certified copy of your answer book online, from your SSP dashboard on eservices.icai.org, within 30 days of the result. The fee is Rs 100 a paper. For the CA Intermediate September 2026 papers the window opened on 23 October and closes on 21 November 2026 at 23:59 IST, three weeks after 31 October. ICAI emails the copies and aims to send them within 30 days of your application.

ICAI takes one application per registration number and has no late fee. Pick every paper you want before you pay.

TL;DR

• Apply on eservices.icai.org: SSP dashboard, then Verification, Certified Copies and Inspection of Answer Books.
• Fee: Rs 100 a paper since the January 2026 results, down from Rs 500. It is not refunded.
• CA Inter September 2026: last date 21 November 2026.
• In the nine sessions I checked, the window opened the day after the result and closed 29 or 30 days after it.

How do you apply for an ICAI certified copy of your answer book?

ICAI accepts the application online only. These steps are from ICAI's FAQs on Examinations.

1. Log in to your SSP dashboard at eservices.icai.org.
2. Click "Verification, Certified Copies and Inspection of Answer Books".
3. Choose "Certified Copies of Answer Books", read the guidelines, tick the box and click OK.
4. Select every paper you want. You cannot add one later.
5. Tick "I agree", submit and pay online.
6. Save the Successful Submission page. It has your control number and payment details.

If money leaves your account but the screen does not say successful, ICAI has not received the application. Apply again before the last date; the failed payment is credited back.

It is one online form, and the page with the control number is your proof.

What is the fee for a CA certified copy?

Rs 100 a paper. ICAI's announcement of 18 December 2025 cut the certified copy fee from Rs 500 to Rs 100 a paper for Foundation, Intermediate, Final and PQC exams. The new fee applies to applications made after the January 2026 results.

• Foundation, all four papers: Rs 400.
• Intermediate, both groups (six papers): Rs 600. Before the cut the same set cost Rs 3,000.
• Final, both groups (six papers): Rs 600.

ICAI does not refund the fee, even when its own check changes your marks. At Rs 100 a paper, I would ask for every paper of the group you missed. The paper you scraped through often shows the habit that sank the other one.

A full Inter set now costs Rs 600, one-fifth of the old fee, and none of it comes back.

What is the last date for the September 2026 papers?

For CA Intermediate September 2026, the window runs from 23 October 2026 (11:00 IST) to 21 November 2026 (23:59 IST). ICAI declared the result on 22 October, and our CA Inter September 2026 result post covers the result-day steps.

For CA Foundation September 2026, ICAI's exam services page had no window notice when I checked on 31 October 2026. Expect the 30-day pattern below when it appears.

CA Final November 2026 students get their window after the Final result. Inter students have until 21 November 2026.

How many days after the result does ICAI close the window?

ICAI's rule is 30 days from the result. To see how that falls on the calendar, I matched all 11 certified copy notices ICAI posted from September 2024 to September 2026 with its result announcements.

• September 2024 (Foundation, Inter): result 30 October 2024. Window 31 October to 28 November: last date 29 days after the result.
• November 2024 (Final): result 26 December 2024. Window 27 December to 24 January 2025. 29 days.
• January 2025 (Foundation, Inter): result 4 March 2025. Window 5 March to 2 April. 29 days.
• May 2025 (all levels): result 6 July 2025. Window 7 July to 4 August. 29 days.
• September 2025 (all levels): result 3 November 2025. Window 4 November to 3 December. 30 days.
• January 2026 (Final): result 1 March 2026. Window 2 March to 31 March. 30 days.
• January 2026 (Foundation, Inter): result 8 March 2026. Window 9 March to 7 April. 30 days.
• May 2026 (Final): result 18 June 2026. Window 19 June to 17 July. 29 days.
• September 2026 (Inter): result 22 October 2026. Window 23 October to 21 November. 30 days.

Source: ICAI certified copy notices and result announcements, September 2024 to September 2026; days counted by Gradehunt. The May 2026 Inter and Foundation notices are left out because ICAI's announcement page does not list those result dates.

The window opened the day after the result in all nine sessions. The last date came 29 days after the result five times and 30 days after it four times. Up to May 2025 the certified copy window shut one day before the verification window. Since September 2025, both have opened and closed on the same days, and the later notices show them as one window.

Count 29 days from your result date and treat that as your real last day.

What does the certified copy show?

It is a copy of your evaluated answer book, sent by email. You see the examiner's marks against each part and the totals on the cover page.

For MCQ parts you get a copy of the OMR sheet only. That covers Foundation Papers 3 and 4, the MCQ part of every Intermediate paper and the MCQ part of Final Papers 1 to 5.

The total on the answer book can differ from your mark sheet. Under Regulation 39(2) the Council can revise the marks of a section of candidates in a paper, and the mark sheet includes that revision. The answer book shows only the examiner's marks.

Before the copies go out, ICAI checks each answer book under Regulation 39(4) on its own. What that check covers is in our post on how ICAI checks CA answers.

What if you find an unmarked answer?

Write to ICAI within 30 days of the letter that sent your copies. Use ICAI's discrepancy report format and email it to [email protected], [email protected] or [email protected], by level. Only issues within Regulation 39(4) count, such as an unmarked answer or a totalling error.

The copy shows the examiner's own marks, and only marking errors within Regulation 39(4) can be raised from it.

Should you get the certified copy through RTI or the ICAI portal?

ICAI does answer RTI requests for answer books. Its RTI page names information officers for Final, Intermediate (still listed as IPCC) and Foundation answer books.

An RTI request costs Rs 10, plus Rs 2 a page for copies. You can file it online at rtionline.gov.in, or on plain paper with a demand draft or postal order. Quote your registration number, roll number, attempt and paper. The RTI Act gives the officer 30 days to reply.

My view: use the portal while the window is open. ICAI's FAQs tie the Regulation 39(4) check to portal applications and say nothing about RTI requests getting it. RTI is the fallback if you missed the 30 days. I found no ICAI page saying how long it keeps answer books, so do not wait months.

The portal is the normal route. RTI is a backup for students who missed the window.

How should you read the copy against the suggested answers?

I read a certified copy the way I check a test paper, with ICAI's suggested answers for that attempt open beside it.

1. List the examiner's marks for each part next to the marks it carried.
2. Circle every part where you lost more than half the marks.
3. For each circled part, find what the suggested answer has that yours does not: a working note, a section number, a format or a conclusion.
4. Check the MCQ part from the OMR copy against the answer key.
5. Note any unmarked part or totalling slip for the discrepancy email.

If the copy shows marks lost on missing steps, start writing full papers and getting them checked before January. Our January 2027 exam form post has the form dates.

Lay your marks against the suggested answer part by part. The pattern of lost marks tells you what to fix.

If you want a second reader, Gradehunt's CA certified copy evaluation compares your ICAI copy with the suggested answers and shows, question by question, where the marks went. It comes back within 48 hours.