How degree verification through DigiLocker works
If a firm or a bank asks you to prove your degree, DigiLocker can be the quickest way. It rests on a rule. Regulation 16(1) says every degree must be sent to the National Academic Depository, or NAD. Each one carries its own ID, your photo and your Aadhaar or other ID.
Sending it is your college's duty, not a favour. Here is how the three parts fit.
Online degrees are covered too. The rule applies to every online and distance award, so if your college has joined, your online degree should be there. If it is missing, ask the college in writing when it will be sent.
- The college sends itYour degree goes to NAD with its own ID number.
- You fetch itYou pull it into DigiLocker from the college. It is free.
- A checker asksWith your consent, the check is done within 24 hours.
Is a DigiLocker degree as good as the paper one?
In India, yes. Under Rule 9A of the 2016 Digital Locker rules, a paper the issuer puts into DigiLocker counts the same as the original.
The key word is issuer. A scan you add yourself sits in the same app, but it has none of that weight. Abroad, firms that assess degrees and embassies set their own rules, so the app does not replace paper there.
So the step is to fetch, not to upload. The degree comes from the college inside the app, and what you get is the college's own record, not your copy of it. A photo of a certificate only proves that you have a photo.
- Counts as the originalA degree your college puts into DigiLocker, in India.
- Does not countYour own scans or photos of the paper, wherever you keep them.
How to get your degree into DigiLocker
Do this soon after you finish, while your student details are easy to find. Then check the record against your paper degree.
The fetch is free, so there is no reason to pay anyone to do it for you. Use your details exactly as the college has them, or the search may find nothing.
- Check your college has joinedIf it has not, there is no record to fetch yet.
- Fetch the degree from the collegePull it in the app. Do not add a scan.
- Match it with your paper degreeName, course, year and the ID number must agree.
- Report any error to the collegeOnly it can fix its own record.
What to check on the digital record
Read the record against your paper degree on the day you fetch it. If the two differ, the fix must come from the college, because the record is its document, not yours. A fix asked for early is easier than one asked for years later.
Check your photo too. The rules put your photo and your Aadhaar or other ID on each award, so a wrong photo is an error the college must fix.
Once the record matches, save a copy with the date in the file name. Then you have proof of what it showed.
- Course and yearThe course title and the year of the award.
- Your nameSpelled exactly as on your paper degree and your ID.
- The ID numberThe unique ID printed on your paper degree.
If your college has not joined
Not every college has sent its degrees to NAD yet. If yours has not, there is nothing to fetch, and searching the app will not change that. You still have ways to prove your degree.
Do not take the gap as a sign that something is wrong with your degree. It only means the college has not sent its records yet. Every other way to prove your degree still works.
Ask the college to confirm in writing which route an employer should use to check your degree in the meantime.
- Ask the collegeWhether it has sent, or plans to send, its degrees to NAD.
- Use its verification officeIt checks paid requests from firms, agencies and embassies.
- Keep your originals safeUntil there is a digital record, the paper is your proof.
- Check again laterColleges join over time, so look again before a big application.
If your degree has not been issued yet
Most universities hold convocation once a year, so the degree can take six to eighteen months. No UGC rule sets a deadline. Until it is issued, there is nothing in DigiLocker to fetch.
Use your provisional certificate in the meantime. Once the degree is issued, fetch it and check it the same day.
- WESAccepts a provisional certificate in place of the degree.
- University officesCheck a provisional certificate for a job or a visa.
The IDs you will need
Two kinds of ID do different jobs, and mixing them up is the usual reason a search finds nothing. One belongs to the degree. The others belong to you.
Note all three in one place while you can still log in to your student account.
The DEB-ID and the credits ID follow you from college to college. The unique ID stays on one degree. So when you ask about a record, quote the unique ID first.
| ID | What it is for |
|---|---|
| Unique ID on the degree | Quoting the exact award when you ask about it |
| DEB-ID | Required before you enrol in an online or distance course |
| Academic Bank of Credits ID | Linked to your DEB-ID from the 2024-25 session |
Sources: UGC rules, Regulation 16(1), DEB-ID questions
How employers verify a degree
Firms have two main ways to check. The NAD route is quick and needs your consent. Those who can ask include firms, banks, visa offices and colleges.
The other way goes to the college itself. Many run an office that checks degrees, such as Anna University's, and it takes paid requests. It works, but it adds a fee and a wait.
The consent step is what makes the NAD route safe. Nobody searches your name in an open database. A checker gets access because you said yes.
Both routes check the same thing: that the college really gave the degree. Neither is a single national website for every degree, because each depends on the college.
- Through NADWith your consent, and done within 24 hours.
- Through the collegeA paid request to its office, from a firm, an agent or an embassy.
Using a DigiLocker degree abroad
The equal standing of a DigiLocker degree comes from an Indian rule. Abroad, evaluators and embassies set their own rules, and a copy you share from the app is not what they use.
Attestation also works on the paper. The Ministry of External Affairs stamps it based on the signature on it, and does not check what it says. That is one more reason to keep the original safe.
- Evaluation abroadPapers sent by the college, not a DigiLocker copy you share.
- Use abroadAn apostille or attestation, through agencies the Ministry of External Affairs appoints.
Keep the paper anyway
A degree in the app does not retire the paper. Some steps still need the original. WES, for example, wants your degree or provisional certificate and every year's marks, sealed and sent by the college, or sent online by it.
Use abroad also runs on paper. Countries in the Hague Apostille Convention take an apostille. Others need the paper stamped and then cleared by their embassy. The back of your paper degree also shows how you studied, the dates and where you sat your exams. So keep both: the app copy for quick checks, and the originals for the rest.
Keep copies in a separate place from the originals.
The app holds your degree, not the full record of your course. It does not prove that the course was recognised for your session.
For that, keep a dated copy of your course's row on the UGC-DEB list. Recognition lasts five years and is recorded for each session, so save it while it is easy to find.
