EWS (Income and Asset) Certificate in Delhi

What is the EWS certificate in Delhi?

The EWS certificate in Delhi is the Income and Assets Certificate issued to persons belonging to the Economically Weaker Sections for the 10% reservation in direct recruitment to civil posts and services under the Government of India. The Revenue Department, Government of NCT of Delhi, issued a detailed office memorandum on 4 June 2019 (No. F.87(118)/CCS/HQ/EWS/Rev./2019) putting the whole process on record, after the Services Department confirmed that issuance and verification of the certificate falls within the Revenue Department's domain.

The area Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM) is the issuing authority. The SDM signs the certificate in the format prescribed by the Government of India, only after carefully verifying all relevant documents against the criteria in the Department of Personnel and Training's office memorandum of 31 January 2019.

Delhi is stricter than most states in one respect: the memorandum states that applicants for the EWS certificate shall apply online only through the e-District Portal of GNCT of Delhi at edistrict.delhigovt.nic.in. There is no parallel paper route.

Who can and who cannot apply?

You can apply for a Delhi EWS certificate if you are not covered under any of the existing schemes of reservation for SCs, STs or OBCs; state, union territory or central list, and your family's gross annual income is below Rs 8 lakh. Income is counted from all sources: salary, agriculture, business, profession and everything else, for the financial year prior to the year of application.

You cannot apply, and are not eligible, if you belong to a caste covered by SC, ST or OBC reservation, whatever your income. Separately, and irrespective of family income, a person is excluded from EWS if the family owns or possesses any of:

• 5 acres of agricultural land and above;
• a residential flat of 1,000 sq ft and above;
• a residential plot of 100 sq yards and above in notified municipalities;
• a residential plot of 200 sq yards and above in areas other than notified municipalities.

Property held by a family in different locations or different places or cities is clubbed together while applying the land or property holding test. That clause defeats a large number of Delhi applications, because families often hold a small flat in Delhi and ancestral land elsewhere and assume the two are assessed separately.

"Family" for this purpose means the person seeking the benefit, their parents, their siblings below the age of 18 years, and their spouse and children below the age of 18 years. An earning adult sibling's income is therefore outside the test, while a parent's is inside it.

What documents are required?

The Revenue Department's memorandum directs that the applicant apply in the proforma available on the e-District Portal and upload all the requisite documents listed in the application form. In practice a complete Delhi EWS application carries:

• Proof of identity: Aadhaar, voter ID, PAN, passport or driving licence.
• Proof of Delhi residence in the SDM's jurisdiction, voter ID, ration card, a utility bill or a registered rent agreement.
• Income proof for every earning member of the family: salary certificate or Form 16, the income tax return where there is business or professional income, and proof of agricultural income where relevant.
• Property documents where the family owns a flat, plot or agricultural land, showing area, so the SDM can apply the asset test.
• A self-declaration of income and assets, covering income for the preceding financial year and property as on the date of filing.
• From the financial year 2020-21 onwards, the details of EWS Income and Asset Certificates obtained in earlier years, for the period starting from 2019-20. The memorandum makes this a specific requirement of the application form.

How to apply for an EWS certificate in Delhi online

1. Open edistrict.delhigovt.nic.in and register as a new citizen user with your Aadhaar or voter ID number and mobile number, then verify the OTP. Registration is one-time and covers every Delhi e-District service.
2. Log in and select the Revenue Department service for the Issuance of Income and Asset Certificate (EWS). Delhi keeps this separate from the ordinary income certificate, so check the service name before you start.
3. Fill the application proforma, applicant's details, family details covering parents, siblings below 18 and spouse and children below 18, income from all sources for the financial year prior to the year of application, and immovable property as on the date of filing.
4. Enter the details of EWS certificates obtained in earlier financial years, from 2019-20 onwards, where you have held any.
5. Upload the requisite documents listed in the form — identity, residence, income proofs and property papers: within the size limits the upload screen states.
6. Submit and save the acknowledgement number. The application then goes to the area SDM, who is required to issue the certificate online within 15 days of a complete application.

How do you check the application status?

Use the "Track your application" option on edistrict.delhigovt.nic.in with the acknowledgement number generated at submission. Delhi issues the certificate online, so once the SDM approves it the digitally signed certificate is downloaded from the same login; there is no counter to visit.

The e-District Delhi portal also carries a certificate verification facility, which is what an employer or examination body uses to confirm that the certificate number on your document is genuine. Verify your own certificate once it is issued, so that a mismatch is found by you rather than by a recruitment board at the document-check stage.

If 15 days pass without a decision on a complete application, take the acknowledgement number to the office of the area SDM, and then to the Deputy Commissioner of the district, who supervises the SDMs on this service.

How long is the certificate valid, and when must it be renewed?

A Delhi EWS Income and Asset Certificate is valid only for the financial year in which it is issued. The Revenue Department's memorandum spells this out with an example: an application filed in May 2019 is decided on the income of the financial year 2018-19, and the certificate remains valid only till 31 March 2020.

That single rule is the most common practical trap. An EWS certificate obtained for one recruitment cycle usually cannot be reused for the next one. Read the recruitment advertisement; most central notices name the financial year for which the Income and Asset Certificate must have been issued, and a certificate for the wrong year is treated as no certificate at all.

What does it cost, and what about agents?

The Delhi EWS application is filed on the government's own e-District Portal, and the Revenue Department's memorandum publishes no separate charge for it. Pay only what the portal itself asks for at the payment step, and if you use a Common Service Centre, only the operator's notified user charge for filling and uploading.

No SDM office clerk, dealing hand, tout or "consultant" is entitled to anything beyond that. Because Delhi mandates online-only filing, an agent who claims to have a faster inside route is simply filing the same online form you can file yourself. Keep the acknowledgement and any payment receipt the portal generates, and report a demand for money to the SDM or to the Deputy Commissioner of the district.

Why are Delhi EWS applications rejected or cancelled?

• The applicant is covered by SC, ST or OBC reservation, and therefore cannot hold EWS status at all.
• Family income for the previous financial year reaches Rs 8 lakh once every source and every family member within the definition is counted.
• Property held in Delhi and elsewhere, once clubbed, crosses 5 acres of agricultural land or the flat or plot limits.
• Income proofs for one or more earning family members are missing, so the application is not "complete in every respect" and the 15-day clock never starts.
• Residence documents do not place the family within the area SDM's jurisdiction.
• Earlier-year EWS certificate details, required from 2020-21 onwards, are left blank.

The memorandum also warns that where a certificate has been obtained on false or fraudulent facts, the Deputy Commissioner of the district cancels it with immediate effect, informs the applicant, and informs the employer if the certificate is known to have been submitted to one. Proceedings may additionally be initiated against the applicant under the relevant penal provisions. The Revenue Department applies the same discipline internally: issuing a certificate without due diligence exposes the issuing officer to action under the CCS (CCA) Rules, 1965.

Where do you complain?

Start with the office of the area Sub-Divisional Magistrate, quoting the acknowledgement number, since the SDM is the issuing authority. Escalate to the Deputy Commissioner of the district, who is the supervising revenue officer for EWS certificate issuance and cancellation in Delhi, and who the Revenue Department's memorandum specifically directs to ensure issuance of EWS certificates in the districts.

For technical failures on the portal itself, an upload that will not attach, a payment that did not register, a certificate that will not download: use the helpdesk contact published on edistrict.delhigovt.nic.in rather than visiting the SDM office, since those problems sit with the Revenue Department's IT branch.