Government departments and Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs) in India handle high volumes of recruitment and procurement. Each hire or vendor onboarding requires a thorough check of educational and professional records. The efficiency of this process depends on the chosen method: manual or digital. This article analyzes the credential verification cost in India to assist public sector officials in budget approval discussions.

Problems with Manual Credential Verification

Manual processes remain common in many Indian government offices. This method involves physical document handling, postal communication, and manual data entry. A department must assign staff to contact universities or previous employers. Staff members send letters or emails and wait for a response. Sometimes, officials must travel to institutions to verify records in person.

The manual credential verification process is slow. It takes between 10 and 21 days to complete a single check. During this period, the recruitment process stops. This delay increases the cost of vacancy, where essential roles remain unfilled. If a department hires 1,000 employees annually, the administrative hours spent on follow-ups are significant.

Manual systems also face security risks. Physical certificates are easy to forge. Verification officers may struggle to distinguish between a genuine degree and a sophisticated fake. This leads to the risk of hiring unqualified individuals for sensitive public roles. To understand how these risks affect public trust, you can read more about how verifiable credentials rebuild trust in public services.

Breaking Down the Credential Verification Cost in India

When calculating the credential verification cost in India, departments must look at both direct and indirect expenses.

Direct expenses include:

• Courier and Postage: Sending documents to multiple universities across India.
• Verification Fees: Payments required by universities or boards to verify records.
• Manpower: Salaries of the administrative staff dedicated to this task.
• Travel: Expenses for “spot verification” in high-stakes recruitments.

Indirect expenses include:

• Opportunity Cost: The value of the work not done while a position is vacant.
• Legal Risks: The cost of litigation if an employee is later found to have fake credentials.
• Data Breach Risks: The cost of losing physical files or mishandling sensitive candidate data.

Research indicates that the manual credential verification cost in India ranges from ₹700 to ₹1,200 per candidate. In contrast, digital methods reduce this to a range of ₹20 to ₹200. The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) promotes digital systems like DigiLocker to reduce these administrative overheads. You can find more details in the MeitY Annual Report.

The Role of Verifiable Credentials in Budget Savings

Digital systems use verifiable credentials to automate the process. A verifiable credential is a digital version of a physical document. It contains a digital signature that proves its authenticity. The issuer, such as a university, signs the data. The holder, such as a job applicant, stores it in a digital wallet. The verifier, such as a government department, checks the signature instantly using a registry.

The use of verifiable credentials eliminates the need for third-party background check agencies. It removes the need for physical mail. Verification happens in seconds rather than weeks. This speed allows departments to finalize budgets for recruitment drives more accurately. Digital systems provide a clear audit trail, which is necessary for government audits and compliance with the Digital Personal Data Protection (DPDP) Act 2023.

Cost Factor	Manual Verification	Digital Verification (EveryCRED Model)
Direct Cost per Record	₹700 – ₹1,200	₹20 – ₹200
Time to Complete	10 – 21 Days	Instant (Seconds)
Accuracy Rate	~73% (Subject to human error)	99.9% (Cryptographic certainty)
Staff Requirement	High (Dedicated teams)	Low (Automated via API)
Storage Cost	High (Physical archives)	Negligible (Cloud/Server-based)

Administrative Efficiency and Public Sector Mandates

The Indian government has established the National Academic Depository (NAD) to facilitate digital checks. The University Grants Commission (UGC) mandates that institutions upload degrees to this platform. This infrastructure supports the reduction of credential verification time. Public sector departments can integrate their recruitment portals directly with these databases.

By using verifiable credentials, departments align with the “Digital India” initiative. This alignment simplifies the process for candidates from rural areas who otherwise spend money on notarizing and mailing physical copies. For educational institutions, this reduces the burden of responding to thousands of manual verification requests. You can see how this works in the education sector solutions provided by EveryCRED.

Public sector budget discussions often focus on “Ease of Doing Business.” Reducing the time to verify vendors and employees contributes to this goal. If a PSU can verify 5,000 vendors in one day using an automated system, it saves thousands of man-hours. These hours can then be redirected to core public service tasks.

Security and Compliance Benefits

Manual records are susceptible to loss, fire, or theft. They are also difficult to search. A digital system using verifiable credentials allows for instant data retrieval. Every check is logged in a secure system. This prevents unauthorized access to candidate information.

The Digital Personal Data Protection (DPDP) Act 2023 requires organizations to handle personal data with consent. Digital platforms include consent management as a core feature. When a candidate shares their credentials, they provide explicit digital consent. The system records this consent, ensuring the department stays compliant with national laws. Manual systems often lack this level of granular consent tracking, which creates legal vulnerabilities.

The National Academic Depository (NAD) provides a secure framework for this data exchange. Using such authorized platforms ensures that the credential verification cost in India remains low while maintaining high security standards.

Digital Systems via API

Public sector departments do not need to build new infrastructure from scratch. They can use an API integration to connect their existing HRMS (Human Resource Management System) to a verification engine. This allows the department to verify documents without leaving their internal platform.

An API-based approach reduces the initial capital expenditure (CAPEX). The department pays based on the number of verifications performed (OPEX). This “pay-per-use” model is easier to justify in budget approval discussions than a large upfront investment. It provides a clear return on investment (ROI) that officials can present to the Ministry of Finance.

Digital systems also allow for “re-verification” at zero cost. If an employee moves from one department to another, the new department verifies the existing digital record instantly. This creates a lifetime of value for a single digital certificate. You can learn more about this in our guide on digital identity verification.

Calculating the ROI for Budget Approval

To gain budget approval, an officer must demonstrate the financial benefits of switching to digital credential verification. Consider a department that processes 10,000 verifications per year.

• Manual Cost: 10,000 x ₹900 (average) = ₹90,00,000.
• Digital Cost: 10,000 x ₹100 (average) = ₹10,00,000.
• Direct Savings: ₹80,00,000 per year.

These savings do not include the reduction in office space, paper, and printing costs. They also do not include the value of the 2,000+ days of administrative time saved. For a detailed breakdown of the process, refer to our article on academic credential verification.

The use of verifiable credentials also reduces the risk of fraud. Fraudulent hires cost organizations significant amounts in severance, retraining, and reputation management. In the public sector, the cost of a fraudulent hire is even higher due to the potential for corruption and loss of public money.

Conclusion

The credential verification cost in India is a major factor in public sector operational budgets. Manual methods are expensive, slow, and prone to error. Digital methods using verifiable credentials provide a secure and cost-effective alternative. They ensure compliance with the DPDP Act and align with national digital goals.

Transitioning to a digital credential verification system allows departments to reduce spending by up to 80%. It speeds up recruitment and improves the quality of the workforce. Public sector officials should prioritize these digital tools in their upcoming budget discussions to ensure financial efficiency and operational integrity. EveryCRED provides the tools necessary to implement these changes through secure, blockchain-based technology.