A document that is authentic is not necessarily a document that satisfies credit policy. A genuine salary slip from a borrower who has been employed for 3 months when the policy requires 6 months fails a policy check — not a forgery check. A genuine bank statement that covers 3 months when the policy requires 12 months is incomplete — not fraudulent. The Document Verification Agent AI applies credit policy checks at the document level, not at the underwriting level, catching policy gaps before the file reaches the credit queue.
The two distinct document checks — and why they cannot be combined
There are two fundamentally different questions a document verification system must answer. The first is authenticity: is this document genuine? The second is policy compliance: does this document satisfy the credit policy requirements for this product? These are different questions that sometimes have different answers. An authentic document can fail a policy check. A policy-compliant document can fail an authenticity check. Conflating them produces errors in both directions.
The Document Verification Agent AI separates these two checks cleanly: the 11-signal forgery detection runs first, producing an authenticity verdict. If the document is authentic (passes the forgery threshold), the policy check layer then applies: does this authentic document satisfy the credit policy requirements for the product the borrower is applying for? Only documents that are both authentic and policy-compliant proceed to the credit queue without a flag.
The income policy check matrix: what is validated per document type
| Document Type | Policy Requirement | What Document AI Checks | Common Failure Mode | Routing on Failure |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Salary slip | Last 3 months · From current employer · Basic + Gross stated | 3 consecutive months confirmed · employer name consistent across all 3 · no employment gap between slips · latest slip within 60 days of application | Slip gap — months 2–3 submitted, month 1 missing (borrower changed jobs) | Flag: request month 1 or prior employer slip |
| Bank statement | 6 months (personal); 12 months (self-employed); minimum 3 salary credits in period | Statement period confirmed by date range · salary credit regularity computed · statement from application-stated account · no unexplained large credits that inflate apparent income | Statement covers 6 months but only 2 salary credits (borrower was between jobs) | Flag: insufficient salary regularity · request explanation or additional statement |
| Form 16 / ITR | Last 2 assessment years for salaried; last 2 ITR-3/4 for self-employed · Filed, not merely prepared | Assessment year confirmed · employer TAN verified against TRACES · ITR acknowledgement number verified against income tax portal | ITR prepared but not filed (no acknowledgement number) · assessment year not aligned to product requirement | Fail: unverified ITR cannot be used as income proof |
| Employment letter | From HR on company letterhead · Dated within 90 days · States designation and salary | Letter date within 90-day policy window · company letterhead consistent with employer database · designation stated · gross salary stated and consistent with salary slips | Letter dated 95 days ago (just outside 90-day window) | Flag: request fresh employment letter or confirm policy exception authorisation |
| GST returns (SE borrower) | Last 8 quarters of GSTR-1/3B · Filed on time · Turnover consistent with declared income | 8 consecutive quarters confirmed · filing dates checked (late filing reduces income reliability score) · declared turnover cross-referenced with bank credits | Only 6 quarters submitted (business registered 18 months ago) | Flag: insufficient GST history — product eligibility requires 24 months · consider thin-file pathway |
| Audited financials (proprietor) | Last 2 years · Signed and sealed by chartered accountant · Net profit used, not gross revenue | CA registration number verified against ICAI portal · signature consistency · assessment period confirmed · net profit line identified and extracted | Financials prepared by unregistered accountant — CA number not in ICAI registry | Fail: unverified CA cannot certify financials for credit purposes · fresh audited statement required |
Policy rule application: 8 checks run on every income proof
Latest income document within 60 days of application date
Policy: most recent income document must be dated within 60 days of application submission. Application date: Nov 14, 2025. Latest salary slip: November 2025. Within 60-day window — passed.
3 consecutive salary slips submitted — no gaps in employment period
Policy: last 3 consecutive salary slips. Documents submitted: September, October, November 2025 — three consecutive months, same employer, no gap. Passed.
Minimum employment tenure of 6 months at current employer — confirmed from EPFO and salary slip sequence
Policy: 6 months minimum at current employer. EPFO contribution history shows continuous contributions from TechCorp India Ltd since May 2024 (18 months). Passed.
Monthly gross salary variation below 15% threshold across all 3 months
Policy: gross salary should not vary by more than 15% month-on-month (excluding variable pay components). Sep: ₹87,200 · Oct: ₹88,400 · Nov: ₹88,400. Max variance: 1.4%. Passed.
Net salary credited to bank within 10% of stated net salary on slip for all 3 months
Policy: bank credit must be within 10% of net salary on slip. Sep: slip ₹80,780, bank credit ₹80,780. Oct: slip ₹81,980, bank credit ₹81,800. Nov: slip ₹82,200, bank credit ₹82,200. All within 0.25%. Passed.
Variable and reimbursement components excluded from eligible income per product policy
Policy: income for FOIR computation excludes performance bonus, LTA, medical reimbursement, and overtime. Document AI extracts the fixed components only: Basic + HRA + Fixed Allowances = ₹88,400/month eligible income. Passed.
Form 16 annual income vs annualised salary slip — variance exceeds 10%, below 15% threshold
Policy: Form 16 gross should reconcile with annualised salary within 15%. Form 16: ₹10.42L. Annualised slip: ₹10.61L. Variance: 1.8%. Within 15% policy — passed. Flagged as a context note because the variance direction suggests a mid-year pay revision (salary increased from Sep onwards) — which is corroborated by the slip data. Not a policy failure; logged as context.
FOIR at proposed loan amount within product FOIR ceiling
Policy: maximum FOIR of 45% for salaried home loan borrowers. Eligible income: ₹88,400. Existing EMIs: ₹22,400. Proposed EMI (₹28L at 10.5%, 20 years): ₹11,540. FOIR: (22,400 + 11,540) / 88,400 = 38.4%. Within ceiling. Passed.
Policy compliance at the document level prevents wasted underwriting time
A credit underwriter who receives a file with a 3-month-old employment letter (outside the 90-day policy window) must send it back to origination for a fresh letter — adding 2 days to the TAT. A document verification system that catches the 95-day-old letter at submission catches it before any underwriter time is spent on the file. The Document Verification Agent AI applies every income policy check at the moment of document submission — so the credit queue contains only files that are both authentic and policy-compliant. Every query the underwriter would have raised about income documentation has already been answered.