Verifying an Employee's Degree? What RTI Can and Cannot Do

Check This First

• The university’s verification cell: most major universities and boards operate an official transcript/verification service (typically paid). This is the designed channel for employer verification and often the fastest.
• DigiLocker / NAD: where the university has uploaded records, the candidate can share a verifiable digital copy - strong evidence with consent.
• The candidate’s own RTI: the cleanest RTI route - the degree-holder requests their own records. See degree certificate not issued and certificate verification pending.

Who Can File - and to Whom

• RTI is a citizen’s right: a company cannot file as a company, but an individual (for example, an HR officer in personal capacity) can.
• The RTI goes to the PIO of the public university or board that issued the degree. Purely private institutions are generally outside RTI - though their affiliating university or regulator may hold relevant records.

What Can Be Asked - and the Limits

Information commissions and courts have taken differing views on how much of another person’s academic record can be disclosed. Requests framed at record-level authenticity - whether a certificate bearing a given number and year matches the institution’s records - have been allowed in several decisions, while personal details of the degree-holder attract the Section 8(1)(j) privacy exemption, and the PIO may run the Section 11 third-party procedure before deciding. See how courts have approached institutional records in our DAV College Trust case note and the RTI case-law library - educational reading, not a promise of outcome.

Sample RTI Questions (record-based framing)

• Whether the institution’s records contain a degree/certificate bearing number ________, issued in the year ________ for the course ________, and whether it matches those records as issued.
• The prescribed official procedure and fee for third-party degree verification, and where such requests are to be sent.
• The number of verification requests pending with the verification cell and the ordinary processing time, as on record.

What RTI Cannot Do Here

• It cannot compel disclosure of another person’s personal details - marks, address, or file contents - where Section 8(1)(j) applies.
• It cannot reach a purely private institution directly.
• It is not a bulk-verification pipeline: each RTI is one citizen’s request. For volume verification, the university’s official cell is the designed route - RTI is the accountability lever when that cell goes silent.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

• Filing in a company’s name - it will be returned; file as an individual citizen.
• Asking for the candidate’s marks or personal file - frame at authenticity of the certificate as a record.
• Skipping the university’s own verification cell - PIOs often simply point you there.

Common Questions

Can an employer verify an employee's degree through RTI?

An individual citizen can ask a public university whether a certificate matches its records. Record-level authenticity has been allowed in several decisions; personal details of the degree-holder are protected under Section 8(1)(j), and the PIO may consult the third party under Section 11.

What about degrees from private universities?

Purely private institutions are generally outside RTI. Check whether a public affiliating university, board or regulator holds the relevant records - those bodies are covered.

Is there a faster official route than RTI?

Usually yes: the university's own verification cell (paid) or DigiLocker/NAD with the candidate's consent. RTI is most useful when that official channel is unresponsive - asking on record about your pending verification request and its recorded status.

How FileMyRTI Helps

We draft record-based verification RTIs that stay within the law’s limits - correctly addressed, correctly framed. For recurring verification needs, talk to us about a structured process; for one request, apply below and our team handles the drafting and filing.

Want the full details of this service — what we ask, what you get, and how filing works? See the dedicated service page: RTI For Marksheet Verification