DGCA Computer Number Through DigiLocker: Who Gets It Instantly and What Happens If It Fails

A student finishes Class 12, opens the Pariksha portal and reads three different guides that disagree. One says the computer number takes fifteen working days and needs a certificate from the school board. Another says it arrives the moment you submit. Both are right, for different candidates. The DGCA computer number DigiLocker route is a second path laid over the manual one, and which path you land on depends on your nationality, your board and whether your Aadhaar details match your marksheet. This post settles who gets which.

What is the DigiLocker route to a computer number?

The DigiLocker route is a way to register on the Pariksha portal in which the education records are fetched from DigiLocker and the computer number is allotted straight away. The system allots the computer number immediately on successful submission, instead of after manual scrutiny. DGCA announced it through a PIB release of 17 October 2025, and the portal calls it “Register with DigiLocker — auto computer number generation”.

It sits on top of the manual application rather than replacing it. An earlier step came first: from 16 December 2024, under a public notice dated 13 December 2024, documents fetched from DigiLocker no longer needed a Board Verification Certificate. The number itself is for life and is issued once per category, whichever route you use.

Who qualifies for the DigiLocker route?

An Indian national with both Class 10 and Class 12 records in DigiLocker and an Aadhaar that matches those records exactly qualifies. DGCA lists four conditions, and failing any one of them puts you on the manual route.

Board coverage is the condition that moves. The first phase covered CBSE, and DGCA said other recognised boards would follow as their documents come online. Read the DigiLocker registration page on the Pariksha portal for the current position on your board. A foreign candidate’s route is set out in our post on foreign nationals and NRIs training in India.

What does DigiLocker fill in, and what do you still upload?

DigiLocker fills in your education record, personal particulars and Aadhaar photograph, and you still upload a fresh photograph and your signature. That is the whole upload on this route, which is why it is faster and why a mismatch is the main thing that can go wrong.

• Class 10 and Class 12 records from the recognised board, where the board publishes to DigiLocker
• Name, date of birth, marks, address and other particulars, auto-filled from DigiLocker
• The Aadhaar-linked photograph

You upload these yourself:

• A recent photograph, which must match the DigiLocker photograph to at least 80%
• Your signature, to the specification in the Flight Crew User Manual

The photograph rules are the same as on the manual route: 45 mm high × 35 mm wide, white background, no border, colour only, matt finish, not more than 3 months old, JPG/JPEG and no more than 70 KB. The signature is 20 mm high × 45 mm wide, white background, no border, no more than 20 KB. The 80% match is why a photograph taken years ago, or with a very different appearance from your Aadhaar picture, is a risk worth removing.

How do you register by the DigiLocker route?

You register on the Pariksha portal, choose the DigiLocker option on the registration page, let the portal fetch your records, upload a photograph and signature, and submit. The portal’s own sequence for the manual form is below; the DigiLocker route replaces the document-upload and waiting steps but keeps the same opening and closing.

1. Check DigiLocker first. Confirm both Class 10 and Class 12 documents are present and that your Aadhaar is linked.
2. Open the registration page on the Pariksha portal and pick “Register with DigiLocker — auto computer number generation”.
3. Let the portal fetch your name, date of birth, marks, address and Aadhaar photograph. Read each field against your marksheet before moving on.
4. Upload your photograph and signature within the size limits in the table above.
5. Submit. On success the system allots the number at once; on a mismatch it tells you the application will be handled manually.

Two cautions apply. The manual form warns that nothing can be added after Final Submit, and the same sense of care applies here: nothing can be added after Final Submit. A forgotten document cannot be uploaded afterwards, and the photograph and signature cannot be replaced by the candidate later. And one email address and one mobile number can belong to only one candidate, so do not register a sibling or friend on yours. The same email address and mobile number cannot be used for more than one candidate.

What happens when the instant route fails?

When the details do not match, the system may stop generating the number and the application goes the manual way. Any mismatch or discrepancy may stop the system generating the computer number. The application then goes the manual way, with the Board Verification Certificate and the usual scrutiny. You lose time, not the application, but you also need the certificate and the scrutiny you hoped to skip.

Three things cause most of these stops, all rooted in the rule that names are matched exactly: Names are entered exactly as they appear on the Class 10 marksheet or the passport, whichever was issued later. A spelling variation, a title, or a missing or extra middle name is a basic-detail mismatch and causes complete rejection. The date of birth must also agree to the day, and only the Class 10 documents or a birth certificate count as proof, not Aadhaar. Our posts on the reasons a computer number is rejected and on the Board Verification Certificate cover the manual route in detail. If your details are already wrong on the profile, see how to change them.

Which route should you plan for?

Plan for the DigiLocker route if you are an Indian national, your records appear in DigiLocker and your Aadhaar matches, and keep the manual documents ready as a fallback. Treating the fast route as a certainty is how students find out about the certificate late.

The step-by-step form filling is on our DGCA computer number page. Once you have the number, the written papers are next, and we teach those in our DGCA ground classes.

We teach the DGCA ground subjects and arrange flight training with partner flying schools. We do not own aircraft or simulators, we do not employ pilots, and we do not place students into airline jobs — hiring decisions rest with the operator.

What to do this week

Open DigiLocker, check that your Class 10 and 12 documents are there and compare the Aadhaar name and date of birth with your marksheet. If everything agrees, register on the portal by the DigiLocker route. If anything differs, start gathering the manual documents now, so the fallback costs you days rather than weeks.