Employees' past difficult to verify

70 per cent of all discrepancies are related to previous employment.

Employees, it is estimated, are responsible for around 60 per cent of losses due to fraud, information and property thefts. Yet, searching for an employee with a criminal record or fake credentials in India is akin to searching for a needle in a haystack.

A TRICKY ISSUE

Cost of a background check: Anywhere between Rs 200 and Rs 5,000 per employee

Over 500 pre-screening firms exist, including HR firms; estimated to be a Rs 500 cr industry

India has no centralised employee database to check for frauds/crimes; updating such databases is a tedious and expensive affair
 

Nasscom does have 300,000 professionals registered with its National Skills Registry database, but it's a small step, say experts

Fake degrees still abound; verification process is not reliable

Process may get more regulated after the 'Private Detective Agencies (Regulation) Bill, 2007' becomes an Act

Over 98 per cent of all registered Indian firms do not conduct any background screening. Inquiries related to fraud get restricted to internal audits in most cases. Even for the 2 per cent that do, nearly 80 per cent of the information that is verified by third-party investigators is not reliable, asserts Kunwar Vikram Singh, chairman, Central Association of Private Security Industry and The Association of Private Detectives and Investigators.

The problem is deep-seated. Pre-screening players allege that 'fake degrees' can be obtained and verified in India with ease. A First Advantage study suggests that about 29 per cent of all discrepancies are related to educational qualifications. Of these, 85 per cent of candidates submit fake documents. Almost 70 per cent of all discrepancies are related to previous employment.

Ashish Dehade, managing director (West Asia), First Advantage, wants to take the concept of 'background checks' a step further with 'Infinity Screening' (also known as 'Continuous post-hire screening'). He says over 40 corporations in India are testing this new concept. "Just because a candidate has been background screened and found 'clear' does not imply that he/she remains 'clear' in future as well. We recommend 'Infinity Screening' for criminal records to be conducted at least once a year."

No one appears impressed. Pre-employment screening players concur there isn't any centralised public access to police records, which makes a comprehensive nationwide search impossible.

One has to identify the correct police station of the area of residence to track a person. If a person has resided at different addresses in the same city, one has to request for separate searches. This is a tedious process.

In fact, Inquest, a pre-employment screening player, has even put up a cautionary note on its website, which reads: "Beware of any agency which claims to have conducted a search at any district court or High Court for criminal record. There are no searchable records available at any district court of any state in India."

Vijay Mukhi, president, Foundation for Information Security & Technology, is blunt: "Background checks are a must. However, I wouldn't pay for such a service in India. I would rather do some reference checks, which could prove more reliable. How can you assure that a candidate has no shady past if there is no centralised database?"

Software body Nasscom, on its part, had set up the National Skills Registry (NSR) in 2005 "" a database of details of the IT Professionals (ITPs) . Bangalore-based IT major Wipro, too, has created a database of 'fake CVs'.

However, employers must ensure that checks are done with consent. Ensuring that employees are given proper notice is a very important part of positioning your firm to be able to act at a later date should something go awry with employee records, note experts.