NGO-signed proof of student field hours for college community-service credits
TL;DR Hourproof lets a college prove that its students actually did their community fieldwork. Students check in at a partner NGO or village site, the supervisor signs off the hours on a phone and the college gets a clean record for its credit course. Colleges pay per enrolled student.
In December 2022 the UGC asked universities to run a two-credit course on social responsibility and community engagement[1]. Half of that 30-hour course is meant to happen in the field, for undergraduates and postgraduates alike[2]. India had about 4.33 crore students in higher education in 2021-22, nearly 79% of them undergraduates[3].
Neither the UGC coverage nor the circulars I read say how a college should verify those field hours[1][2]. In practice that usually means a paper logbook with a signature from someone the faculty never meets.
Colleges facing NAAC visits want evidence that'll stand up, and NGOs don't want to fill in forty forms a week.
The seed pitched a social network that rewards verified good deeds. I reframed it, because paying people for posting kindness invites staged photos and fake check-ins and nobody in that loop has a reason to check. College credit is different - someone must certify the hours, so verification has a buyer.
Hourproof has three views. The college lists its partner NGOs and panchayat sites and sets how many field hours each student owes. The student checks in and out at the site, with location and a photo of the activity rather than of people. The NGO supervisor sees a daily list and approves or rejects each entry in one tap.
Faculty get a dashboard showing who's short of hours, which sites are overloaded and which entries look odd, such as two sites at once.
At the end of the semester the college downloads a record per student for its marks process and its accreditation files. Students keep a portable history of signed hours they can show an employer later.
The college pays, usually from the department running the course, and the price can sit inside existing fees. NGOs and students use it free, since the NGO's time is the scarce resource. My assumption to test is ₹100–250 per student per year. No Indian product publishes a comparable price, and iVolunteer, the nearest local player, doesn't list fees[4].
The UGC course recommendation dates from late 2022 and colleges are still building their assessment around it[1]. A promised MOOC on SWAYAM covers the classroom half, not the field half[1]. The DPDP Act 2023 also makes ad hoc collection of student photos and locations on chat groups a liability[5], which favours a purpose-built tool.
No public figure exists for what colleges spend verifying fieldwork. The firm number is the base - 4.33 crore students[3], each potentially owing a field component under a two-credit course[2].
Even a few hundred colleges at a few thousand students each would make a modest SaaS business. How many colleges have adopted the course isn't published.
One Delhi volunteering organisation has run programmes since 2001 and offers NGOs a volunteer management system and third-party certification for corporate programmes[4]. One global corporate-giving platform serves nearly 1,000 large companies and reports 122.9 million volunteer hours tracked[6].
Both serve employers. I found no tool built around a college's credit rules, where the NGO is the signer and the college is the payer.
| Difficulty | Moderate (30/100) |
| Starting capital | ₹40–75 L |
| Time to launch | 4–6 months |
The software is simple. The hard part is the NGO side, where supervisors in villages and small towns have to approve entries daily on cheap phones, often in Hindi or a regional language. Selling to colleges is slow too, and your first deal will need a department head who already worries about accreditation evidence.
No licence is needed. Hourproof is software for colleges, and the UGC community engagement guidance is advisory, with each university setting its own assessment[1][2].
Building this outside India? The categories above usually have a local equivalent, so check with your own regulator.
Don't let AI approve or reject hours or grades. That decision belongs to the supervisor and the faculty, and a false flag can cost a student credit.
Want to work out the AI layer for Hourproof? Talk to Yash →
Here's what can go south -
I'd back a founder who knows how affiliated colleges and NGOs actually work and is patient with institutional sales. A pure social-app founder should skip it. Prove first that NGO supervisors will approve entries within 48 hours for a full semester without being chased.
Plan for roughly ₹40–75 L, mostly on the app and the slow work of signing colleges.
No licence. You need DPDP compliance for student data, a strict photo policy and GST on subscriptions.
Yes, many schools and colleges abroad require service hours. Check local student data rules and whether corporate volunteering platforms already cover your market.
The free Hourproof validation kit has the line-by-line capital breakdown, the effort scoring, the data-protection checklist, a 14-day validation sprint with pass/fail targets, a 90-day launch plan, 10 interview questions for colleges and NGOs, and 5 assumptions to test. Download the kit →
Thinking about building Hourproof or something close to it? The make-or-break work is keeping NGO supervisors signing off on time without paying them, and I'm happy to help you test that. If you need a hand, you know where to find me. Talk to Yash →
For illustration only. Names are fictional and ideas hypothetical; sourced facts are real but may be out of date. Nothing here is legal, financial or professional advice, and Yash Khatri is not personally liable for any use of it. Read the full disclaimer.