Character Certificate (Police Clearance Certificate) in Delhi

What is a police character certificate in Delhi?

A character certificate in Delhi is the Police Clearance Certificate (PCC) issued by the Special Branch of Delhi Police. Delhi Police runs the service on a single online portal, pcccvr.delhipolice.gov.in, built with the National e-Governance Division, and states that the whole point of the application is to deliver the certificate "without the need to go to a Police Station".

Delhi Police issues the certificate in two forms, and choosing the wrong one is the most common mistake applicants make:

• PCC: address and antecedents verification. Delhi Police conducts a proper field or physical verification at the declared address. This is the form used for emigration, for NRIs proving a period of residence in Delhi, and for anyone who needs proof of stay at a Delhi address.
• PCC, antecedents verification only. No visit to the address takes place. Delhi Police runs a record check against SCRB, CCTNS, ICJS and Register No. IX, Part-III of the police station concerned.

A separate product, the Character Verification Report (CVR), exists on the same portal but is not for citizens. Delhi Police issues a CVR only on an official reference from a Government department, public sector undertaking or autonomous body verifying its own candidates, free of charge and within 21 days. Individuals, including people appointed on contract, who apply directly for a CVR have their applications rejected and are told to use the PCC portal with the prescribed fee.

Who can and who cannot apply?

You can apply for a Delhi PCC if you are an Indian national who lives, or previously lived, at an address inside the NCT of Delhi and hold a valid Delhi identity proof. Delhi Police confirms that a PCC can be applied for from anywhere in the world: including from abroad; as long as that Delhi identity proof exists. There is no income test, no caste criterion and no age bar; this is a records check, not a welfare benefit.

Delhi Police lists the purposes it will issue a PCC for: private jobs and pre-joining formalities for Government jobs including contractual posts; licences other than those under the Arms Act; journalists seeking accreditation from PIB and the Directorate of Information and Publicity, GNCT of Delhi; employees of private contractors engaged by Government, semi-Government, PSU, Defence Forces, Airport Authority and Delhi Metro Rail Corporation; agents and companies engaged for post office and similar Government services; security agencies, their directors and employees applying under the Private Security Agency Regulation Act (PSARA); registration of commercial vehicles; adoption of a child; and a miscellaneous category.

You cannot apply in these situations:

• You live in Delhi NCR rather than Delhi itself. Delhi Police's answer to this question is a one-word "No".
• You have no valid Delhi identity proof. The FAQ is explicit that you must first arrange one; an identity proof of another state is not eligible and should not be uploaded.
• You are a foreign national. Afghan, Nepalese and other foreign nationals apply to the FRRO at R.K. Puram, New Delhi; Pakistani nationals apply to the Pakistan Section of the Special Branch at Delhi Police Bhawan.
• You want tenant or domestic servant verification. Those go to the district DCP office of the area where the person resides, not to the PCC portal.

A newly married applicant living at an in-laws' address without an identity proof of that address may still apply, uploading the husband's identity proof for the present Delhi address along with one of the listed documents, or a copy of the application already made for transferring the identity proof.

What documents are required?

Delhi Police accepts any one of the following as valid Delhi identity or address proof: Aadhaar card, voter ID card, driving licence, passport, a rent agreement issued by a notary public, a bank passbook, a utility bill (water, electricity, gas or MTNL phone) in the applicant's name, or a certificate from a Gazetted Officer, MP or MLA certifying the staying period with an attested photograph.

Alongside that, you upload a passport-size photograph in the correct size and, where relevant, the letter from the agency demanding the PCC. Every field marked with an asterisk on the form is mandatory, and Delhi Police warns against leaving any column blank, uploading blurred scans, or attaching mobile-phone photographs of documents, which the system does not support.

How to apply for a character certificate in Delhi

Delhi Police describes the process as a short online sequence that ends in payment:

1. Read the FAQs and the step-by-step procedure published on pcccvr.delhipolice.gov.in, and confirm you fall inside one of the listed purposes. Applying for a purpose outside that list gets the application rejected.
2. Register on the portal with an email ID and mobile number you actually control, then log in. Delhi Police has no facility to supply a forgotten password — only a self-service retrieve option, so record the credentials.
3. Fill the application form. Enter your name, parentage and date of birth exactly as on the identity document, and enter your Delhi addresses. If you lived at more than one Delhi address, list present and previous Delhi addresses in decreasing order of the staying period; one PCC then covers both.
4. Save, verify the data and click Pay Now. Pay Rs.350 as an individual or Rs.1,000 as an organisation, plus bank charges, using a debit card, credit card, net banking or UPI. The banker for the portal is Axis Bank.
5. Note the PCC number generated on successful payment. It appears on the certificate and is the reference for every follow-up, download and authentication check.
6. Cooperate with the Enquiry Officer. For an address-and-antecedents PCC, an officer conducts a field enquiry, and you must produce original documents and arrange two independent witnesses from the same locality.

Delhi Police then emails an electronically signed Police Clearance Certificate to the registered address after the record check and the field verification.

How do you check the status and download the certificate?

Log in to the portal with the account used to file, where every PCC you have applied for is stored and downloadable for one year from the date of application. If you have lost access, the portal carries a separate "PCC Confirmation / Authentication / Status" option, which an individual, firm, company or embassy can use to confirm and authenticate an issued PCC by entering the relevant details, the practical way for a foreign consulate or an employer to check that a certificate is genuine. Delhi Police has also introduced QR-based verification of certificates.

Why do Delhi PCC applications get delayed or rejected?

• The applicant was not present at the declared address during the field enquiry, or could not produce original documents.
• The identity proof uploaded belongs to another state, or is blurred or unreadable.
• Details were entered wrongly. Delhi Police warns that if you feed wrong information, you are responsible and the PCC is liable to be rejected, and no correction is possible after payment.
• A criminal case in Delhi or outside Delhi was concealed. Delhi Police lists concealing facts and concealing involvement in a criminal case as explicit "Don'ts".
• The purpose applied for is not on the approved list, or the applicant is an NCR or foreign resident.

What does it cost, and what about agents?

The entire government charge is Rs.350 for an individual and Rs.1,000 for an organisation, plus bank charges, paid on the official portal itself, the sums the Delhi Police FAQ states. There is no legitimate additional payment anywhere in the process, and Delhi Police puts "Don't pay the money to the Enquiry Officer" on its own list of Don'ts. Nobody visiting your home for verification is entitled to a rupee.

Agents promising a Delhi PCC in three days for a few thousand rupees are selling a queue that does not exist: the field verification period is 21 days for every PCC type, and the file passes through the same Special Branch office regardless of who typed the form. Note also that the fee is never refunded once a PCC number is generated, whether the status ends as pending, issued or rejected, which is exactly why it is worth checking every field before paying rather than paying someone else to hurry.

If payment is deducted but no PCC number is generated, log in and check the payment status, or call the Delhi Police PCC helpline on 011-23236040; the office also publishes the email dppcc.sb@delhipolice.gov.in. Refunds in that situation are processed automatically by the bank, and an unresolved case is taken up as a chargeback with Axis Bank.