Duplicate Degree Not Issued: First Actions and the University Route

Reviewed on: 2026-06-12.

Your original degree is lost, damaged or never delivered, you applied to the university for a duplicate, and weeks later nothing has moved. Do these four things first: lodge a loss report, raise the duplicate-degree application with the examination branch (not a general inbox), check DigiLocker and the National Academic Depository for a digital copy you can use now, and keep your application reference for follow-up. A State or central university is a public authority, so if the file stalls, an RTI to the registrar can confirm your record and push issuance.

1. Lodge a loss report. For a degree lost in transit, a flood, a fire or simple misplacement, the police usually record a non-traceable report or a general diary entry rather than a full FIR. Many universities also accept a signed self-declaration of loss. Keep the date and reference. Confirm your university's exact requirement before you spend on stamp paper.
2. Apply to the examination branch, not a generic email. A duplicate degree is issued by the examination or certificate section of the university that conferred the degree, not the department or the affiliated college. Use the university's prescribed duplicate-degree (also called “duplicate convocation certificate”) form. Quote your enrolment number, year of passing, programme, and the convocation at which the degree was conferred.
3. Check DigiLocker and NAD now. If your degree was issued digitally, a verified copy may already sit in your DigiLocker account through the National Academic Depository. A DigiLocker-issued degree carries the same legal standing as the physical one for most verification purposes, so it can keep your job, visa or admission moving while the paper duplicate is processed.
4. Save the application reference. Note the receipt or file number the moment you apply. Without it, every follow-up restarts from zero, and your RTI later cannot point to a specific file.

These are not the same document and often go to different sections. The degree (or convocation certificate) is the formal award of the qualification, issued once at convocation. The marksheet is the semester or year statement of marks. If you have lost the degree but still hold your marksheets, say so clearly, because the verification effort is smaller. If you have lost both, apply for each on its own form and pay each fee. For a delayed duplicate marksheet specifically, see duplicate marksheet delayed.

• Duplicate-degree application form, filled and signed.
• Enrolment or registration number, year of passing, and programme name.
• Loss report (police non-traceable report, general diary entry, or self-declaration), as your university accepts.
• A photocopy or photo of the lost degree, if any survives, to speed up matching.
• Identity proof such as Aadhaar or passport.
• The prescribed duplicate fee, paid through the official channel, with the receipt kept.
• For a degree destroyed in a disaster, any relief-camp or municipal loss record helps.

A duplicate degree often waits because it needs convocation approval. Many universities issue duplicate degrees only after the next syndicate or executive council meeting authorises a fresh print, so the file can sit for a session even when your record is clear. Other common causes are an enrolment-number mismatch, an old affiliated college that has closed, or the file lying unallocated in the examination branch. An RTI that asks for the file status and the next convocation date often reveals exactly which of these is holding your case.

1. First level: the university examination or certificate branch that received your duplicate application. Follow up in writing quoting your reference number.
2. Second level: the Controller of Examinations or the Registrar, asking for the status, the pending stage, and the expected convocation or print date.
3. Grievance level: the university grievance cell. If your university is covered, you may also use CPGRAMS where it is a central public authority, or your state's grievance route.
4. RTI level: an RTI to the university's Public Information Officer to confirm your record and the file status, with a first appeal to the First Appellate Authority if there is no reply in 30 days.

A State or central university is a public authority under the Right to Information Act, 2005, so it must answer your RTI. Use RTI to confirm, from the university's own records, your enrolment number, year and result, to ask the current status of your duplicate-degree file, the next convocation at which duplicate degrees will be printed, and the name of the dealing official. Many files move once they are on the RTI record.

RTI is an information tool, not a printing order. It will not by itself compel the university to print your degree, and it cannot change a wrong entry, that follows the correction route. A deemed or fully private university that is not substantially government funded may fall outside RTI; in that case, use its grievance process and, where a public regulator holds related records, file the RTI there instead.

To,
The Public Information Officer,
[Name of the University],
[Registrar's office address]

Subject: Information under the Right to Information Act, 2005 - confirmation of degree record and status of duplicate-degree application

Sir / Madam,

I request the following information held by your office:

1. Please confirm from your records the enrolment number, year of passing, programme and class/division of the candidate named [full name], who completed [programme] from [college/department] in the year [year].

2. Please provide the current status of my duplicate-degree (duplicate convocation certificate) application, reference number [reference], submitted on [date].

3. Please state the next convocation or print cycle at which duplicate degrees will be issued, and the further steps and time required in my case.

4. Please provide the name and designation of the official currently dealing with my application.

I enclose the prescribed fee in the manner accepted by your office. If any part of this information is held by another public authority, please transfer that part and inform me.

Yours faithfully,
[Full name]
[Address, mobile, email]
[Date]

• Writing to a general university email instead of the examination or certificate branch that actually prints the degree.
• Confusing the degree with the marksheet and applying on the wrong form.
• Ignoring DigiLocker and NAD, where a usable digital copy may already exist.
• Buying stamp paper before confirming whether the university accepts a simple self-declaration.
• Losing the application reference, which makes follow-up and any RTI weaker.

• DigiLocker
• National Academic Depository (NAD)
• University Grants Commission (UGC)
• RTI Online
• CPGRAMS

• Practical Guides hub
• Duplicate marksheet delayed
• Duplicate school board certificate after a flood or fire
• Name or DOB wrong on an entrance exam scorecard
• How to file RTI online
• First and second appeals

The university that conferred the degree issues it, through its examination or certificate branch. Your affiliated college can confirm your enrolment details, but it does not print the degree.

Not always. Many universities accept a police non-traceable report, a general diary entry, or a signed self-declaration of loss. Confirm your own university's requirement before you apply.

Often yes. A degree issued to DigiLocker through the National Academic Depository is generally treated on par with the physical copy for verification, so it can keep your work or admission moving.

A common reason is that duplicate degrees are printed only after the next convocation or council approval. An RTI asking for the next print cycle usually reveals whether this is the cause.

No. RTI gets you your record and the file status, which often unsticks the case, but the actual printing follows the university's duplicate-issue and convocation process.

The successor university or the State's affiliating university usually holds the records. Ask the State higher-education department, and file the RTI with the body that now holds your file.

Download the duplicate degree checklist (PDF)