In 2016, India’s Unified Payments Interface (UPI) redefined how the country transacts. Built with a vision of seamless, real-time transfers, open APIs, and trust-backed interoperability, UPI unlocked massive financial inclusion and digital adoption. Today, a new opportunity is emerging—this time in the realm of employment.
Could India replicate this success in hiring and workforce management? Can we create a national employment trust infrastructure—a digital backbone that enables verifiable credentials, frictionless onboarding, and fraud-proof hiring?
At OnGrid, we believe the answer is a resounding yes. And the groundwork is already being laid.
The Broken Trust in Hiring
Despite advances in digital HR tech, hiring processes in India remain vulnerable to one key issue: lack of trust.
Here’s what today’s hiring landscape looks like for many organizations:
Applicants misrepresenting credentials like qualifications or previous experience
Manual reference checks that take days or even weeks
Siloed employment records, with no common verification standards
Prolonged onboarding cycles, especially in high-churn industries
A worrying surge in deepfake interviews, forged documents, and impersonation
With over 500 million people engaged in India’s formal and informal workforce, such inefficiencies create systemic risk—not just for companies, but for the economy at large.
What an Employment Trust Infrastructure Means
Imagine a UPI-like architecture, but for employment. Instead of transferring money, this system would transfer trust—digitally and securely.
A well-designed employment trust infrastructure would enable:
Real-time verification of personal identity, educational credentials, prior employment, and even criminal records
Consent-driven data sharing, empowering individuals to decide who accesses their data
Portable digital credentials, such as digitally signed offer letters, relieving employees from repeatedly furnishing hard copies
Open APIs that integrate seamlessly with HRMS, payroll software, and onboarding platforms
Auditability and traceability for enhanced regulatory compliance
This would dramatically improve trust, transparency, and speed in hiring.
What the Numbers Are Saying
The need for such a system is already pressing. A recent Economic Times article titled “Tech adoption picks up in Corporate India; so does employment fraud” reveals that digitization is inadvertently enabling a new wave of employment fraud.
Key takeaways from the article:
Spike in background verification discrepancies since the pandemic
Proliferation of fake degrees, work experience claims, and impersonation
High fraud rates among gig and contract workers in metropolitan regions
These trends highlight a crucial truth: as we digitize faster, our verification methods must evolve too. Without a centralized trust infrastructure, employers remain exposed to risk—operating in a fast-moving environment with outdated tools.
OnGrid’s Role in Building Trust
At OnGrid, we’re not just solving the pain points of background verification—we’re helping engineer a scalable trust infrastructure for employment.
Our offerings include:
Background checks across multiple dimensions: identity, education, previous employment, address, criminal records, drug test
API-first architecture, allowing real-time, automated verification workflows
Digital, consent-based frameworks, ensuring that individuals control the flow of their employment data
E-locked verified credentials, such as internship certificates or experience letters, that candidates can share securely
Automated professional reference checks, eliminating manual follow-ups
On-site audits and physical due diligence, particularly vital for high-volume hiring sectors like gig work, delivery, and logistics
We empower businesses to verify smarter, onboard faster, and hire with confidence—all while staying compliant with evolving regulatory expectations.
Lessons from UPI
To replicate UPI’s transformative impact, employment trust infrastructure must adopt its foundational principles:
1. Interoperability
Just as UPI connects multiple banks and apps, a trust infrastructure must unify HR tech platforms, verification providers, academic institutions, and employers.
2. Consent as Default
UPI’s pull-based, user-authorized transaction model should be mirrored in employment data sharing. Candidates should be able to digitally authorize what gets shared and with whom.
3. Open APIs
A trust infrastructure must be developer-friendly. With REST APIs and SDKs, platforms like OnGrid make it easy to embed verifications into existing systems.
4. Cost Efficiency and Scale
UPI’s success is tied to its affordability. Similarly, employment verification needs to be low-cost and high-volume, especially for MSMEs and startups.
Why India Needs It Now
The timing couldn’t be more urgent. Here’s why:
The gig economy is growing exponentially. These roles demand instant, verifiable trust at scale.
Companies are increasingly hiring remotely, making in-person document checks obsolete.
Global Capability Centers (GCCs) are hiring Indian talent but demand high compliance.
Fraud is on the rise—from fake job offers to deepfake interviews.
Job-switching frequency is increasing, making verified and portable employment histories more important than ever.
A Vision for 2030: India’s Employment Stack
By 2030, India could have a fully operational Employment Trust Framework, modeled on India Stack and UPI:
A Standards Body defines credential formats and verification protocols
Credential Issuers (employers, universities, government bodies) publish verified, digitally signed records
Data Repositories store and index metadata for real-time verifiability
Consent Wallets empower individuals to manage access to their employment data
Verifiers—employers, agencies, platforms—fetch data via secure APIs
This multi-layered structure would include:
Digital ID Layer: Tied to driving license or other identity proofs
Credential Layer: Educational degrees, offer letters, employment history
Verification Layer: Consent-based sharing mechanisms
Trust Layer: A secure API and governance framework for standardization
Such a system would reduce onboarding time from weeks to minutes—while eliminating fraud and empowering millions with trusted digital work identities.
Conclusion: Trust Is the New Infrastructure
As India aims for a $5 trillion economy, building digital trust in employment is not a luxury—it’s a necessity. Much like UPI brought financial inclusion, an employment trust infrastructure can bring hiring efficiency, compliance, and integrity at scale.
OnGrid is proud to be leading this evolution. From background checks to digital credentials, from API integrations to consent governance—we’re building the rails of trust for India’s employment future.
FAQs
1. What is an employment trust infrastructure?
An employment trust infrastructure is a digital framework that enables real-time, tamper-proof, and consent-based verification of employment credentials such as identity, education, work history, and criminal records. It acts like UPI for hiring—creating a unified, trusted, and scalable layer for employment data across platforms and employers.
2. Why does India need an employment trust infrastructure now?
With over 500 million workers and the rapid growth of the gig economy, India faces increasing risks of hiring fraud, fake resumes, and delayed onboarding. A trust infrastructure ensures secure, fast, and compliant hiring—especially in an era of remote work, job fluidity, and rising regulatory scrutiny.
3. How is OnGrid contributing to building this trust infrastructure?
OnGrid offers real-time, API-driven background verification services including ID checks, education and employment history, criminal record checks, and automated reference checks. It also enables digitally signed, portable credentials and a consent framework for secure data sharing—laying the foundation for a nationwide employment trust layer.
4. What are the benefits of using such a system for employers?
Employers benefit from:
Faster onboarding and reduced time-to-hire
Lower risk of hiring fraud
Seamless integration with HR systems
Compliance with industry and regulatory norms
Access to verified, portable employee credentials
5. Can individuals control how their data is shared in this system?
Yes. A key feature of the employment trust infrastructure is consent-driven data sharing. Individuals will have control over which employers or platforms can access their verified credentials, ensuring transparency and data protection.
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