Top 10 Background Verification Companies in India

What are Background Verification companies and why do you need them?

Well as the name suggests background verification companies are assigned to find out the background of a person.

They find out everything about a person like educational verification, employment verification, reference verification, criminal record verification, address verification, drug testing etc.

A verification company would try to dig out every possible detail about the person.

Background verification checks have become rather important nowadays.

They are used by a variety of companies for different reasons.

The process of background verification was necessitated due to the fact that several people conceal vital facts about themselves for fear that it may impact anything from career prospects to marriage and creditworthiness.

Why Background Verification?

In most countries, including India, background checks are used for a variety of purposes.

• To verify educational qualifications and work skills mentioned in CV by jobseekers.
• For determining the place of residence and other credentials of a person taking postpaid mobile phone connection.
• Banks do background verification for proof of address and income for loan and credit card applications and in some cases, for new customers.
• Police in India verifies specific details about a person who applies for a new passport.
• A handful of private companies provide discreet background verification of prospective spouses and their families.

Who Uses Background Verification?

Most big employers use a service called Employee Background Screening (EBS).

This is to ensure they hire the right candidate. The trend of Employee Background Screening (EBS) has yet to become popular in India and is currently done only by large organizations. This is mainly due to the costs involved.

Further, background verification service is most utilized by companies that offer credit such as mobile service providers, banks and Non-Banking Financial Companies (NBFCs).

Since companies, banks, NBFCs, and individuals cannot undertake the Herculean task of background verification, they enlist the help of specialized companies.

Here we present top 10 background verification companies of India.

Also Read:

• Top 10 Cooperative banks of India 2018
• Top 15 List of Private Banks in India
• Top 10 Microfinance Companies In India

Important Note

This list is generated at random. The below listing is not an indicator of the popularity of any company or its financial standing, number of clients or any other material.

Should you wish to avail background verification for any reason, we advise you conduct independent research and find the company best suited to your needs. This list does not imply recommendations of any kind.

Top 10 Background Verification Companies in India in 2018:

1. KPMG

Global giant KPMG provides employee background and various other verification services in India. The Overall expertise in these field helps KPMG rank #1 in this list of top background company in India.

This company is among the foremost in the world for background check services. KPMG India’s background check services can also be done for companies or employees that are based in foreign countries.

2. Onicra

Onicra Credit Rating Agency provides credit and performance rating services in India.

It provides ratings, risk assessment and analytical solutions to individuals, Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises and large corporate houses.

“ Onicra plays a central and critical role in collecting and analyzing a variety of financial, operational, industry and market information, synthesizing that information, and providing autonomous, reliable assessments of the entity, thereby providing stakeholders with an important input into their decision-making process,” states its website.

3. Auth Bridge

Auth Bridge was established in 2005 and claims to possess capabilities of delivering background verification solutions in some 140 countries.

The company’s website states that Cornell University conducted a case study about how Auth Bridge is innovating HR services in India.

4. iCrederity

icrederity is another top background verification Company which operates from Bangalore and claims to provide EBS services to all segments of the Indian industry as well as Fortune 500 companies.

The firm states it has developed its own model of background verification.

5. IDfy

Mumbai-based IDfy is another major name in background verification checks.

The company provides background verification of jobseekers, death certificate check, social media checks, and public database checks, among other services. Idfy claims it used sophisticated techniques to verify the backgrounds of individuals and companies.

6. Verifact

Bangalore based Verifacts is the top background company in India which claims to service some 600 companies in India and abroad. The company provides various types of background checks, tests and other services for companies to ease their hiring process.

7. cFirst Corp

cFirst Corp is based in Cincinnati, Ohio and with Indian operations based in Bangalore.

“Our team of licensed private investigators delivers world-class customer service and hard-to-match turnaround time. We use databases updated by independent third-party investigators for more accurate and up-to-date information,” states the company website.

8. First Advantage

First Advantage claims to have processed some 55 million screenings for 35,000 companies in 14 countries.

The company website states First Advantage employs 5,000 people for its EBS services for various industries. Verification services are also available for MSMEs.

9. SecUR

SecUR Credentials calls itself as one of the largest background check companies in India. The company website states it offers coverage across the country and in 14 countries.

SecUR claims to cater to over 350 large companies covering some 30 industries and verifies about 500,000 CVs annually.

10. Integrity

Founded by former Mumbai police commissioner PS Pasricha, Integrity Verification Services provides EBS, risk mitigation, and fraud prevention services.

It is a division of Enforcers of Intellectual Property Rights (EIPR) group, which specializes in anti-counterfeiting solutions.

History of Background Verification

The system of background verification is nothing new. The system dates back to 19^th Century Europe as the industrialization of the continent was gaining ground.

Workers from distant locations and various countries converged on centres of industrial production in search of jobs. Some of these workers were fugitives from justice while others made tall claims about their work skills.

Consequently, industrialists hiring them often were saddled with people who were wanted by cops or who lacked skills and caused workplace accidents.

Hence, these factory owners began demanding credentials of job seekers and sometimes sent letters to their previous employers to verify workers’ claims.

Over the centuries, the practice was refined. Background checks helped militaries during World War-I and World War-II to detect underage males from cheating their way into the armed forces.

In recent years, these background checks have become very sophisticated and are utilized for different purposes.

Additional Information

These are not the only background verification companies in India. There are many small and large organizations that provide background verification services for a variety of purposes, as listed above.

While every company has different statistics, it is generally suspected that two to three percent of all CVs received from jobseekers contain fudged information.

This includes the length of service and salary drawn. A handful of candidates also provide false information about their educational qualifications, but this can be easily detected since schools, colleges, and universities maintain computerized details of their students.

Cost of Background Verification

Generally, an EBS would cost a company anything between Rs.2,500 and Rs.10,000 per candidate, depending upon the type of verification it requires.

More checks mean more fees. This is because background verification companies have to pay various authorities to get the required data. For example, they need to check with universities whether a job applicant’s claims on education are true.

The university charges a fee since it involves manpower, extra effort, and expenses.

Some background verification companies hire private investigators to probe into the background of an individual who intends to marry.

There are huge debates over the ethicality of this practice since they render individuals, especially women, prone to blackmail or sexual harassment, should their personal details leak into the wrong hands. Verification of an individual for marriage can cost Rs.50,000 and upwards.

Wrap Up

While background checks are considered essential in some parts of the world, there are also debates over their relevance to hiring.

Some HR experts argue that some fake information can be found in every CV. Jobseekers deliberately blend this false information to ensure they are considered for a job and invited to an interview.

Frauds uncovered by India’s Public Sector Undertaking banks in early 2018 prove that otherwise honest employees can be tempted to commit criminal acts due to monetary considerations.

Though a person may pass a background check with full score, there are no guarantees that as staff, they will desist from illegal activities. How the background verification industry of India will fare in future is thus anybody’s guess.

There are many other background verification companies in India, but we’ve listed some of the best companies in India. You can contact them by phone for their services.