Degree verification RTI — forcing the university to answer

Verification delays cost real things — joining dates, visa windows, foreign university deadlines. Employers write to universities because only the university can certify the award; but nothing in that correspondence carries a statutory clock. RTI does. The request moves from a favour asked to a duty owed, with a signature at the bottom of the reply.

• Universities are public authorities — created by statute or funded and recognised by government, they answer under the Act through their PIOs
• Examination records are information — the Supreme Court held in CBSE v. Aditya Bandopadhyay that answer books, marks records and the evaluation chain are information under the Act, disclosable subject to the Act's exemptions; a verification request file is squarely covered
• The delay becomes documentable — asking for the file's movement converts an unanswerable “how much longer?” into a dated record of who held it and when
• The reply carries weight — a verification confirmation, or a reason for non-issue, on the university's letterhead is what the employer actually needs

To:
The Public Information Officer,
[University name], [city]

Subject: Application under Section 6, RTI Act, 2005 — degree
verification request status

Sir/Madam, kindly provide:

1. The status of the degree verification request dated ___,
   reference no. ___, for [name], roll no. ___, [degree], [year],
   received from [employer / embassy / self].
2. The reasons for the delay beyond the university's own stated
   timeline for verification replies.
3. The date on which the verification reply was or will be
   dispatched, and the mode.
4. The name and designation of the officer handling the request,
   and the PIO and First Appellate Authority of the university.

Where the verification is sought for employment or a visa, the
urgency is noted for expeditious disposal under the university's
citizen charter.

Fee of Rs 10 enclosed [IPO / as per the applicable schedule].

Yours faithfully,
[Name, address, phone, email]

Send it to the university, not the college — colleges under a university rarely hold the degree records; the Controller of Examinations does.

• NAD — the National Academic Depository, on DigiLocker, holds digital copies of academic awards where institutions have uploaded them; an NAD certificate often satisfies an employer without any verification letter at all
• UGC for recognition questions — whether an institution or programme is recognised is a UGC record; an RTI to UGC's CPIO gets the recognition status in writing
• The employer's letter — keep sending it; the RTI does not replace the verification request, it disciplines the university's handling of it

Refusals on degree verification usually lean on Section 8(1)(j) — personal information. The answer is the public-interest limb of that very exemption: verification exists precisely because degrees are relied on by employers, regulators and courts. The first appeal within 30 days is where that argument wins, and the first appeal guide and second appeal guide carry the format.

• CBSE v. Aditya Bandopadhyay (Supreme Court, 2011) — examination records are information under the Act; exemptions must be shown, not assumed
• Bhagat Singh v. CIC (Delhi High Court, 2007) — a refusal without reasons is itself defective

• Addressing the college instead of the university
• Omitting the roll number and year — the two keys every verification office needs
• Not enclosing the employer or visa cover letter, which is what earns the urgent tag
• Filing one application for two degrees — split them, one file per award

Universities commonly quote four to eight weeks. Past the quoted time, the RTI above is the proportionate next step.

Verification — whether a named person holds a stated award — is routinely answered; full marks records go to the student or with authority. See the dedicated page on degrees, marks and personal information.

The National Academic Depository — academic awards held digitally, accessed through DigiLocker. Where the university has uploaded, an NAD certificate substitutes for a verification letter.

Where the university is not itself a public authority, the UGC's recognition records and the parent ministry's oversight still answer under RTI — the route shifts, the discipline does not.

• Duplicate marksheet RTI
• Exam result delay RTI
• Challenge exam result and revaluation 2026
• File RTI online — the 12-step guide
• RTI — 25 questions answered
• The RTI Playbook book

• CBSE v. Aditya Bandopadhyay, (2011) 8 SCC 497 — examination records are information under the RTI Act
• Right to Information Act, 2005 — Sections 6, 7, 19
• DigiLocker — the National Academic Depository front end

Last reviewed: 26 August 2026. The judgment anchors were re-verified; an unverifiable Delhi High Court citation and a paid-expedited-service claim from the old page have been removed.