--- title: "Income Certificate Validity — How Long Is It Valid In Your State? | SarkariDoc" description: "Check income certificate validity by state: 3 years in UP, 1 year in Bihar, generally 1 year in Maharashtra, 3 years in Gujarat — and why none of that governs a central EWS or OBC-NCL claim. Every state rule cited with its checked date." canonical: "https://sarkaridoc.com/tools/income-certificate-validity-checker/" robots: "noindex,follow" generated: "2026-09-04" --- [Home](https://sarkaridoc.com/) [Tools](https://sarkaridoc.com/tools/) Income certificate validity checker # Income certificate validity checker Verified on 2026-08-10 against [Mumbai City District (Govt of Maharashtra) — income certificate FAQ](https://mumbaicity.gov.in/en/income-certificate/) Income-certificate validity is set by each state, and the durations differ widely — 3 years in UP, 1 year in Bihar. Pick your state and enter the issue date to see whether it still runs; for a central EWS or OBC-NCL claim, the financial-year rules override the state duration entirely. This checks dates, not your income eligibility ## Check your certificate Every verdict shows the DoPT text and the crucial date it used. Issuing state Uttar Pradesh — 3 yearsBihar — 1 yearMaharashtra — generally 1 yearGujarat — 3 yearsAnother state… Income-certificate validity is set by each state — durations differ widely. What is the certificate for? State scheme / scholarship / general useCentral EWS or OBC-NCL reservation claim Central EWS/OBC-NCL claims follow financial-year rules, not the state duration. Certificate issue date Date you will use itThe day you will submit the certificate — defaults to today. Cannot determine Enter the certificate's issue date and the date you will use it. Why this verdictShow Rule applied (official source). UP extended income-certificate validity from 6 months to 3 years by a September 2011 government order; computation standards are fixed by Board of Revenue GO No. 669/Ek-1-9-2014-11(2)/2011 dated 24.07.2014. Issued via eDistrict/eSathi by the Tehsildar. [UP GO of Sept 2011 (reported; exact shasanadesh number unretrieved) + Board of Revenue GO dated 24.07.2014](https://www.amarujala.com/uttar-pradesh/deoria/Deoria-57681-68) checked 2026-08-10. ## How to prepare 1. Pick the issuing state. UP, Bihar, Maharashtra and Gujarat ship verified durations; other states are marked honestly as unverified. 2. Say what it is for. A state scheme or general use follows the state duration; a central EWS/OBC-NCL claim switches to the financial-year rules. 3. Enter the issue date. Plus the date you will submit it — the checker shows the exact last valid day. 4. Read the verdict and its source. See valid or expired with the state rule that decided it, its citation and the date we checked it. ## How this is calculated — rule, sources and limits Validity rules and cited sources The checker's verdicts and this table read the same rule rows — a verdict always names the row that decided it. | Where it applies | Validity | What decides | Source | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Uttar Pradesh | 3 years from the issue date | UP extended income-certificate validity from 6 months to 3 years by a September 2011 government order; computation standards are fixed by Board of Revenue GO No. 669/Ek-1-9-2014-11(2)/2011 dated 24.07.2014. Issued via eDistrict/eSathi by the Tehsildar. The 3-year duration is consistent across UP scholarship-ecosystem sources, but the 2011 validity GO itself was not retrievable this cycle. | [UP GO of Sept 2011 (reported; exact shasanadesh number unretrieved) + Board of Revenue GO dated 24.07.2014](https://www.amarujala.com/uttar-pradesh/deoria/Deoria-57681-68) Reported — primary order not yet fetched — checked 2026-08-10 | | Bihar (RTPS) | 1 year from the issue date | Bihar income certificates issued through RTPS state on their face that they are valid for one year from the date of issue; caste and permanent-residence certificates carry no expiry. Issued free via serviceonline.bihar.gov.in. | [RTPS Bihar guidance + the validity line printed on Bihar income certificates (underlying circular unlocated)](https://biharonlineportal.com/rtps-bihar/) Reported — primary order not yet fetched — checked 2026-08-10 | | Maharashtra (Aaple Sarkar) | Generally 1 year — some schemes accept only a current-FY certificate | The Mumbai City district FAQ states the certificate is generally valid for 1 year, or only for the current financial year when applying to certain schemes. The consuming scheme's freshness rule wins over the general duration. | [Mumbai City District official FAQ (Government of Maharashtra), income certificate section](https://mumbaicity.gov.in/en/income-certificate/) Official text, read verbatim — checked 2026-08-10 | | Gujarat (Digital Gujarat) | 3 years from the issue date (state purposes) | Gujarat extended income-certificate validity from 1 year to 3 years (decision reported 01.10.2021); state-purpose non-creamy-layer certificates were extended to 3 years effective 01.04.2016. Central-purpose EWS/NCL claims still follow the central financial-year rules. | [Gujarat government decisions reported by DeshGujarat (01.10.2021 income; 27.04.2016 state NCL); Revenue Dept GR numbers unlocated](https://deshgujarat.com/2021/10/01/validity-of-income-certificate-extended-from-one-year-to-three-years-in-gujarat/) Reported — primary order not yet fetched — checked 2026-08-10 | | Central EWS / OBC-NCL claims (any state) | State duration does NOT govern — the financial-year rules do | When the income certificate feeds a central EWS or OBC-NCL reservation claim, the state's printed duration is overridden: EWS follows the DoPT application-FY rule and OBC-NCL follows the recruiter's crucial-date/FY rule. A certificate inside its state validity can still be the wrong financial year. | [DoPT OM No. 36039/1/2019-Estt(Res) dated 31.01.2019 + DoPT EWS FAQ dated 19.09.2022](https://cdn.s3waas.gov.in/s3fc221309746013ac554571fbd180e1c8/uploads/2025/03/2025032849.pdf) Official text, read verbatim — checked 2026-08-10 | What this check can and can't tell you It never decides whether you qualify as EWS on the income limit — that is self-declared, not a date question. SarkariDoc is not an official government website; confirm every result with your notification and DV call letter. More related pages and sources [UPPSC upload kit](https://sarkaridoc.com/exams/uppsc/)[PDF compressor for exam form](https://sarkaridoc.com/tools/pdf-compressor-for-exam-form/)[Official source log](https://sarkaridoc.com/sources/) ## Common questions Income certificate kab tak valid hota hai? State pe depend karta hai — yahi is sawaal ka asli jawab hai. UP me 3 saal (2011 ke shasanadesh se, pehle 6 mahine tha), Bihar me 1 saal (certificate par hi likha hota hai), Maharashtra me aam taur par 1 saal — par kuch schemes sirf chalu financial year ka certificate maangti hain — aur Gujarat me 3 saal (2021 me 1 saal se badhaya gaya). Aur agar certificate kisi central EWS ya OBC-NCL claim ke liye chahiye, to state ki avadhi nahi, financial-year rule lagta hai. How long is an income certificate valid in UP? 3 years from the issue date. UP raised the validity from 6 months to 3 years by a government order of September 2011, and the computation rules (family definition, income heads) come from Board of Revenue GO No. 669/Ek-1-9-2014 dated 24.07.2014. The exact 2011 GO number was not retrievable online, so this row is marked 'reported' — the 3-year figure is consistent across UP's scholarship ecosystem and district guides. How long is an income certificate valid in Bihar? 1 year from the issue date — Bihar income certificates issued through RTPS state it on their face ('निर्गत होने की तिथि से एक वर्ष तक मान्य'). Caste and permanent-residence certificates from RTPS carry no expiry. The certificate is issued free via serviceonline.bihar.gov.in in about 10 working days. Can I use my income certificate for an EWS or OBC-NCL claim? Not by itself, and its state validity does not carry over. A central EWS claim needs the Annexure-I Income & Asset certificate valid for the financial year of application; an OBC-NCL claim follows the recruiter's crucial-date rule. A plain income certificate inside its 3-year UP window can still be useless for an EWS claim because it shows the wrong financial year — that is the exact trap this family of checkers exists for. Use the EWS or OBC-NCL checker for those claims. My scholarship portal wants a certificate less than 6 months old — but my state says 3 years? The consuming scheme's freshness rule wins. State validity is the ceiling, not a guarantee of acceptance: a scheme or portal can demand a current-financial-year or 6-months-fresh certificate even where the state duration is longer (Maharashtra's official district FAQ says exactly this for some schemes). Read the scheme's own document checklist before relying on an old certificate. Is this an official government tool? No. SarkariDoc is not an official government website. State durations here are cited per source with a confidence label — Maharashtra's rule comes from an official district FAQ; the UP, Bihar and Gujarat durations are reported figures whose underlying orders we could not fetch. Confirm with your state's e-district portal or the validity line printed on the certificate. SarkariDoc is not an official government website. This checker checks dates only, not income eligibility — confirm the crucial date and certificate rule in your official notification and DV call letter. ## Related pages and sources [EWS certificate validity checker](https://sarkaridoc.com/tools/ews-certificate-validity-checker/)[OBC-NCL certificate validity checker](https://sarkaridoc.com/tools/obc-ncl-certificate-validity-checker/)[Caste certificate validity checker](https://sarkaridoc.com/tools/caste-certificate-validity-checker/) --- HTML version: https://sarkaridoc.com/tools/income-certificate-validity-checker/ Site map: https://sarkaridoc.com/sitemap-index.xml Agent guide (what this site is for, when to use it): https://sarkaridoc.com/llms.txt