Bhubaneswar, May 15: Students seeking verification of educational certificates for studies and jobs abroad will now get it done easier and faster.

Authentication of certificates issued by state government-run universities can now be done online with ServicePlus, a software developed by the National Informatics Centre.

Higher education minister Pradeep Panigrahy launched the service today.

The new system will apply to universities such as Utkal, Ravenshaw, Sambalpur, Berhampur, North Odisha, Fakir Mohan, Jagannath Sanskrit, BPUT, OUAT and several others.

The applicants will have to pay a fee of Rs 50 to get the service.

The online certificate authentication will be covered under the Odisha Right to Public Services Act, 2012.

In case of a delay in authentication beyond 12 days, the official concerned will be fined Rs 250 per day. Earlier, the varsities used to take about two months for the manual verification of certificates.

A department official said the online verifications would be processed within 12 working days.

Students can log on to http://serviceonline.gov.in/ and register with the software.

The applicants can fill up a form for verification and submit it, along with a passport-sized photograph.

It will then be electronically diverted to a higher education department's section officer, who would process it and send it to the university concerned.

Thereafter, the university will confirm that the certificate is authentic.

The student will then be sent an email and an SMS asking him to come to the department office with the original certificate.

The National Informatics Centre will train the higher education department officials on the facility.

"The applicants can now avoid the tedious process of visiting the offices repeatedly and returning empty handed. They will have to come to the office only once after verification of their certificates are over. They need to visit the office for the last time with their original certificates for final verification," said Panigrahy.

"It will be a boon for thousands of students and workers from across the state who had to rush to Bhubaneswar for getting their certificates verified. The process will now be convenient and cost effective," said the minister, adding that the online system would also speed up inter-university verification process.