Meet testing firm under fire: Locked Lucknow office, ‘nepotism’ in Uttar Pradesh

TDPL, a testing firm under scrutiny for alleged irregularities and nepotism in Uttar Pradesh, has its investigations reaching as far as Lucknow. In 2021-22, TDPL was responsible for administering exams for 186 administrative positions in the UP Legislative Assembly and Council. However, an investigation by The Indian Express in November 2024 revealed that a fifth of these positions were awarded to relatives of VVIPs and officials involved in the exam administration process.

Five of these relatives are known to be TDPL directors Ram Beer Singh and Satya Pal Singh. Recently, the Jharkhand Police's CID arrested Ram Beer and several TDPL employees for alleged irregularities in government recruitment exams. The whereabouts of Satya Pal are unknown. The Lucknow Bench of the Allahabad High Court described the irregularities linked to TDPL as "shocking," raising concerns about "integrity" and "nepotism."

The court called for a CBI probe, but the matter remains pending before the High Court. The UP Assembly recruitment was contracted to BECIL, a Central Public Sector Enterprise under the Union Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. BECIL hired TDPL to conduct the recruitment, but the company has not been awarded any government contracts for exam administration since the High Court took up the case.

The Lucknow office of TDPL, as listed in the Registrar of Companies, appears to be sealed, with police from Jharkhand having visited the site recently. TDPL was incorporated in July 2010 by Ram Beer and Satya Pal. As per the latest declaration filed with the RoC in August 2025, Ram Beer and Satya Pal each own a 50% stake in the company, comprising 5,000 equity shares each.

The company has 965 employees, all of whom are listed as male. TDPL's revenue from operations in 2024-25 was Rs 19.62 crore, up from Rs 5.23 crore in 2023-24, and its total profit after tax was Rs 48.54 lakh. Ram Beer and Satya Pal each took home a salary of Rs 18.60 lakh in 2024-25. The pair are also directors in four other firms.

UP police records show that Ram Beer and Satya Pal are currently on bail in a separate recruitment case, based on a 2021 complaint by an SIT probing the 2019 recruitment of Village Development Officers. Both were arrested in April 2021, with large sums of cash reportedly recovered from them.