There seems confusion about the Appointing Authority who would sign the Departmental Permission Certificate (DPC). Refer Estacode 2007, Volume I, Chapter I - Recruitment, Appointment, Seniority and Promotion, Rule 6 (1) [Page 47] which provides appointing authorities as follows:-

1. BPS 20 and above : Prime Minister
2. BPS 17-19 : The Secretary of the concerned Ministry or Division
3. BPS 16 or equivalent : An Officer Nominated by the Secretary of concerned Ministry or Division (in most Ministries an Additional Secretary)
4. BPS 3 - 15 : An Officer Nominated by the Secretary of concerned Ministry or Division (in most Ministries a Joint Secretary)
5. BPS 1 - 2: An Officer Nominated by the Secretary of concerned Ministry or Division (in most Ministries a Deputy Secretary)

The DPC is normally submitted to the Administration Section of the concerned department, who put up the DPC on the personal file of the official/officer/candidate to acquire formal approval from the competent authority (which is the appointing authority as mentioned above). Once the competent authority approves, the DPC can be signed by him or his subordinate officer e.g. Section Officer / Deputy Secretary. In most cases, the department forwards the DPC to FPSC on their own, however, some departments may give this to the candidate for onward submission to the FPSC.

There is also a difference in Competent Officer and Reporting Officer. The later is an official's immediate boss, who can be in BPS 17-22 but he won't sign the DPC or atleast it is not appropriate. So only the competent authority should sign your DPC.

Regards