SCHOLARSHIPS Scholar Claims FAQs

Table of Contents-Scholar Claims Q&A

1. How do I upload my bank details in the online portal? 3

2. What if I don’t have my own bank account, can I upload my father’s bank details? 3

3. Can I upload a bank statement instead of copy of passbook or cancelled cheque? 3

Section 2: Availing other scholarships and fee waivers 3

1. I currently have our Institute Merit cum Means Scholarship, which offers me a complete fee-waiver of
my undergraduate tuition fees, with the condition that I will not accept any other scholarships.
What will my total scholarship amount be if I accept the scholarship? Would RF increase the amount
to match the fee-waiver? 3

2. I am receiving the GATE stipend and my Institute does not allow GATE scholars to avail other
scholarships. Does this mean I cannot avail the Reliance Foundation Scholarship? 4

3. If I accept the scholarship, in future am I allowed to do a paid internship in any company?

Section 3: Items to claim under the 80% academic and 20% non-academic 4

1. How are the funds allocated for tuition fees and core academic expenses (80% of the annual scholarship)?
Will the full 80% be provided or will it be on a claims basis? 4

2. Can I use the RF Scholarship funds to pay my Ph.D. application fees, and my Toeffl and GRE exam fees
under either the 80% or the 20% of the scholarship? 5

3. Can I claim my entire scholarship (PG course) within the first two years if I am not sure how long
my course will be? 5

4. Can I claim the entire Year 2 amount in semester 3?

5. Can food expenses be considered under cost of living? 5

6. If my tuition is higher than the 80% academic, can I claim the remaining 20% for tuition fees as well? 5

7. What is the policy for IT/digital equipment, including the one-time laptop/desktop/tablet purchase?
Does it come under the 80% academic claims? 5

8. Can I claim both a laptop and a tablet? 6

9. Can I claim for a laptop/desktop/tablet in advance for Year 1 (sem 1 + sem 2)? 6

10. Can we use the 20% of the scholarship for the one-time printer and IT/digital equipment purchase,
or for the one-time computer/ laptop/ tablet purchase? 6

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11. I have taken hostel for my accommodation during my studies, so do I have to submit
the receipt of that too? 6

12. Does the reliance scholarship provide funds for cost of living too if I am not living in a hostel?
What kind of proof is required for claims if I am not living in a hostel for cost of living? 6

13. Does audible (audiobooks) subscription cost come under books? 6

14. Can I claim the scholarship for WiFi bills ? 6

Section 4: Documents required 7

1. I have only received an online grade-card because of the online semester.

2. I have not yet received this semester’s scorecard/marksheets.

3. Are second semester grades sufficient for second semester enrolment proof? 7

4. For the estimate of tuition fees for the 3rd and 4th semester, do we need to provide our university
fee schedule or notification proof? If we don’t have this proof, can we estimate it based on the
current tuition fees? 7

5. Regarding the Publicity Release (No Objection Letter). Do I need to mention my full name and address,
or just sign the letter provided? 7

Section 5: Unused funds and carry forwards 8

1. What happens to the scholarships I did not claim entirely in the first year?
Can it be adjusted to next year's claims? 8

2. What is the maximum amount that can be carried forward from Year 1 to Year 2 8

3. Will I be able to use unused funds from the year 1 academic bucket, for non-academic purposes in
year 2, and vice-versa? 8

4. Will I be able to carry-over unused funds from year 2 to year 3, or from year 3 to year 4,
or from year 4 to year 5? 9

5. What will happen to any unused funds at the end of year 2 and in subsequent years? 9

Section 6: Other Questions 9

1. When are we expected to receive the fund for the 1st year 9

2. I have changed my course at University, and it still falls under the eligible RF Scholarship
eligible subjects. What do I need to do? 9

3. My correspondence address has changed. How can I change it? 9

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Section 1: Bank Account Information

1. How do I upload my bank details in the online portal?

Answer: Please submit your bank details and upload the required documents through the online application portal:
https://scholarshipapplication.reliancefoundation.org/Programmes/ Runtime/Form/portal using your login credentials.
When you sign into the online portal you should see a moving banner with the option to submit your bank details.

2. What if I don’t have my own bank account, can I upload my father’s bank details?

Answer: The bank account details provided must be in your own name. We cannot transfer scholarship money to
another name other than the scholar’s. If you do not currently have your own bank account, you either can open a
new account singly in your name or can add your name jointly as 2nd Account holder in the bank Account of your
father or mother.

3. Can I upload a bank statement instead of copy of passbook or cancelled cheque?

Answer: Generally, a Bank Pass Book copy or personalized cheque leaf is required to be submitted. In case you do not
have these available, then Bank Statement can be submitted with full details such as Account Holder’s Name,
Account Number, IFSC Code and Bank Branch Name. This information is necessary on all the said documents.

Section 2: Availing other scholarships and fee waivers

1. I currently have our Institute Merit cum Means Scholarship, which offers me a complete fee-waiver of my
undergraduate tuition fees, with the condition that I will not accept any other scholarships. What will my total
scholarship amount be if I accept the scholarship? Would RF increase the amount to match the fee-waiver?

Answer: The Scholarship amount for undergraduate scholars is up to 4 Lakhs over the Duration of the degree program,
and up to 1 Lakhs per year for 4 year programmes. We will not be making any exceptions to increase the scholarship
amount.

If you have a fee waiver, Reliance Foundation allows you to still avail the Reliance Foundation Scholarship to use for
non-tuition fee expenses.

You can claim a maximum amount of Rs. 80,000/- per year (or Rs 64,000/- if you are enrolled in dual-degree 5-year
programme) for non-tuition academic expenses, including:

i. Cost of living, e.g. Hostel Fee, Food, and Incidentals (only if part of hostel fees)

ii. One-time computer/laptop purchase

iii. One-time printer and IT equipment purchase

iv. Purchase of books

v. Journal subscriptions

vi. Purchase of Software and/or cloud space.

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You may also claim a maximum amount of Rs. 20,000/- per year (or Rs 16,000/- if you are enrolled in dual-degree
5-year programme) for any justified non-core academic expenses that will further the scholar’s academic and
professional prospects, including:

vii. Enrolment in additional courses in India and abroad

viii. Any expenses (like travel and stay) for internship opportunities in India and abroad

ix. Any participation fee for conferences or forums

If you require a Certificate from Reliance Foundation that confirms that we will not be disbursing funds for tuition fees
as part of your scholarship due to your existing fee-waiver – please let us know and we would be happy to provide one.

It is your responsibility as a scholar to check whether other scholarships/ fee waivers you may have availed allow you
to accept the Reliance Foundation Scholarship, and to make your acceptance decision accordingly.

2. I am receiving the GATE stipend and my Institute does not allow GATE scholars to avail other scholarships. Does
this mean I cannot avail the Reliance Foundation Scholarship?

Answer: Reliance Foundation allows postgraduate students who have availed the GATE stipend to avail the Reliance
Foundation Scholarship. The Scholarship programme policy permits stipends from other sources of up to a maximum
of Rs 15,000 per month during the scholarship period.

Please check whether other scholarships you may have availed allow you to accept the Reliance Foundation
Scholarship, and to make your acceptance decision accordingly.

As part of the RF Scholarship claims process you will need to disclose how the GATE funds are being utilised and how
you plan to use the RF Scholarship funds to ensure they are not being used for the same purposes.

3. If I accept the scholarship, in future am I allowed to do a paid internship in any company? Will I need to disclose any
stipends received?

Answer: You may do paid or unpaid internships with any company of your choice during your RF Scholarship. Yes, any
stipends that you receive from your paid internships will need to be disclosed.

Section 3: Items to claim under the 80% academic and 20% non-academic

1. How are the funds allocated for tuition fees and core academic expenses (80% of the annual scholarship)? Will the
full 80% be provided or will it be on a claims basis?

Answer: For year 1 you will be required to submit all the actual receipts and supporting documents to claim up to Rs.
80,000 for academic related expenses and Rs. 20,000 for non-academic expenses for UG 4-yr courses, and 2,40,000
and 60,000 respectively for PG 2-yr courses.

For the subsequent years, you will be able to get the academic expenses in advance against the estimates submitted.
All the estimates will have to be supported by actual receipts and supporting documents against the claims before the
next disbursement cycle.

The non- academic expenses will be disbursed against actual claims or specific requests as advance.

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2. Can I use the RF Scholarship funds to pay my Ph.D. application fees, and my Toeffl and GRE exam fees under either
the 80% or the 20% of the scholarship?

Answer: The RF Scholarship funds can only be used for your current UG or PG programme of study, not for PHD
related expenses. The 20% of other expenses can be used for courses and expenses that will further your studies and
development during your currently enrolled programme of study.

3. Can I claim my entire scholarship (PG course) within the first two years if I am not sure how long my course will be?

Answer- Yes, you can claim the entire scholarship within the first two years.

4. Can I claim the entire Year 2 amount in semester 3? And similarly, the entire Year 3 amount in semester 5, etc.?

Answer: Yes, you will be able to claim your entire eligible amount for the year in the first semester of that year. Please
note that you will then have no funds left to claim for the second semester of that year.

5. Can food expenses be considered under cost of living?

Answer: You will only be able to claim for food expenses if you have relevant proof in the form of receipts for the same.
We will only allow food expenses for canteen or hostel meal receipts. We will not accept Zomato or other food receipts
that are not within the campus canteen or hostel meals.

6. If my tuition is higher than the 80% academic, can I claim the remaining 20% for tuition fees as well?

Answer: Yes, you may claim the non-academic 20% for tuition fees if they are higher than your eligible amount for the
academic 80%, as an exception.

7. What is the policy for IT/digital equipment, including the one-time laptop/desktop/tablet purchase? Does it come
under the 80% academic claims?

Laptop: You may purchase a one-time laptop, or desktop, or tablet under the 80% academic claims.

Other IT/Digital equipment: The following items are allowed under IT/digital equipment, which falls under the 80%
academic claims: Printer, memory card extension or SD card, processing unit, external hard-drive, extra monitor,
power bank, headphones, keyboard, stylus pen, kindle, educational software, or smartphone. The following item is not
allowed: Wifi Router.

Each item that you claim that is a piece of IT/Digital equipment as per the list above may only be claimed once over
the duration of your scholarship. The only exception to this is education software purchases, of which you may claim
several.

Postgraduate students: You may claim up to 2 Lakh of your Scholarship amount total for IT/digital equipment
purchases, which includes:

• Laptop or desktop or tablet (one-time purchase)

• Up to 50,000 out of the 2 Lakhs for other IT/Digital equipment pieces as per the list above.

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Undergraduate students:

• You may claim up to 75,000 for the one-time purchase of a laptop, or desktop or tablet

• You may claim up to 25,000 rupees total per academic year on other IT/Digital equipment as per the list above.

8. Can I claim both a laptop and a tablet?

Answer: No, you may only claim either a laptop, desktop, or tablet.

9. Can I claim for a laptop/desktop/tablet in advance for Year 1 (sem 1 + sem 2)?

Answer: Yes, you will be able to claim a laptop/ desktop/ tablet in advance for your academic year 1. Please note
that we won’t disburse your semester 3 claims until you have provided the receipt of payment of the said laptop/
desktop/ tablet.

10. Can we use the 20% of the scholarship for the one-time printer and IT/digital equipment purchase, or for the
one-time computer/ laptop/ tablet purchase?

Answer: You will be able to submit a claims request for the 20% to be used for purchasing a piece of IT equipment or
a laptop/desktop/tablet on exceptional basis. When submitting your claims, please submit a justification for the same
in the remarks box.

11. I have taken hostel for my accommodation during my studies, so do I have to submit the receipt of that too?

Answer: We will be accepting hostel accommodation claims under the scholarship, and if you chose to use the funds
for such purposes then we will ask you to provide the relevant receipts once you submit your claims through the online
portal in due time.

12. Does the reliance scholarship provide funds for cost of living too if I am not living in a hostel? What kind of proof is
required for claims if I am not living in a hostel for cost of living?

Answer: Yes, the scholarship funds provide for cost of living during your academic year even if you are not saying in a
hostel. If you are not staying in a hostel, you will need to submit the copy of quarterly/half yearly rent receipts along
with the copy of the Rent Agreement entered into with the Landlord, which will be a proof document of stay. To
receive rent money in advance, you may estimate the amount for the second year using the amount you paid the first
year and supplying the current rental agreement with the rent receipt from the first year as an estimate proof. You will
then be asked to submit the rent receipts for the semester before the start of the next disbursement cycle.

13. Does audible (audiobooks) subscription cost come under books?

Answer: Yes, audiobook subscription comes under books, if they are justified for academic purposes.

14. Can I claim the scholarship for WiFi bills ?

Answer: No, you may not claim WiFi bills under the Scholarship claims.

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15. Can I claim for gym expenses, or for my bicycle, under “Others”?

Answer- No, you may not claim for these non-academic items.

Section 4: Documents required

1. I have only received an online grade-card because of the online semester. Is the online grade card screenshot
acceptable, instead of formal transcripts?

Answer: Yes, you may submit screenshots of the online grade cards as against mark sheets if you have not yet
received them. However, all mandatory documents will need to be submitted to the Foundation before the next
disbursement cycle.

2. I have not yet received this semester’s scorecard/marksheets. What should I submit under academic documents?

Answer: Please submit your previous semester GPA and scorecard/marksheets in order to submit your claims. We will
ask you to provide the updated scorecard/marksheets before the next disbursement cycle.

3. Are second semester grades sufficient for second semester enrolment proof?

Answer: Ideally, scholars should provide the fee receipt or payment proof for proof of 2nd semester enrolment. For
now, we can accept your grade card for the 2nd semester in the absence of other 2nd semester enrolment proof.
However, all mandatory documents will need to be submitted to the Foundation before the next disbursement cycle.

4. For the estimate of tuition fees for the 3rd and 4th semester, do we need to provide our university fee schedule or
notification proof? If we don’t have this proof, can we estimate it based on the current tuition fees?

Answer: Yes, you may provide either your university fee notification/ schedule, or if you do not have one, you can
present your current fee structure as estimate for the 3rd and 4th semester’s tuition fees.

5. Regarding the Publicity Release (No Objection Letter). Do I need to mention my full name and address, or just sign
the letter provided?

Answer: Please write your name and address alongside your signature at the bottom of the document.

6. What can I provide as proof of my estimated cost for a laptop/desktop/tablet/ IT Equipment?

Answer – You may provide the link or screenshot of the product you are planning to buy. Please note that we won’t
disburse your consequent semester claims until you have provided the actual invoicefor the purchase of the said laptop/
desktop/ tablet.

7. Can I submit a claim for an item if the invoice is not under my name? (e.g. it is under my uncle or father’s name)

Answer: No, all invoices and bills of claims made must be in the scholar’s own name.

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Section 5: Unused funds and carry forwards

6. What happens to the scholarships I did not claim entirely in the first year? Can it be adjusted to next year's claims?

Answer: You will be able to carry forward up to 20% of your year 1 claims to year 2. We will be making any necessary
adjustments to your year 2 claims during the semester 4 disbursement cycle.

7. What is the maximum amount that can be carried forward from Year 1 to Year 2?

Answer: You will be able to carry forward up to 20% of your year 1 claims to year 2. The maximum carry-over
allowance is:

‐ For Undergraduate 4-year students: Rs. 20,000

‐ For Undergraduate 5-year students: Rs. 16,000

‐ For Postgraduate 2-year students: Rs. 60,000

‐ For Undergraduate 3-year students: Rs. 40,000

8. Will I be able to use unused funds from the year 1 academic bucket, for non-academic purposes in year 2, and
vice-versa?

Answer: Please see how the carry-over amount will be treated under the following three scenarios below. We will seek
to maintain the 80% academic and 20% non-academic ratio:

Scenario How the carry-over will work

1. Your underutilised amount is from Your unused funds (with a maximum cap of
your non-academic yearly allowance 20% of your Year 1 total claims allowance) will
bucket only be carried over to the non-academic funds
bucket of your Year 2 claims

2. Your underutilised amount is from Your unused funds (with a maximum cap of
your academic yearly allowance 20% of your Year 1 total claims allowance)
bucket only will be carried over to the academic funds
bucket of your Year 2 claims

3. Your underutilised amount is partly Your unused funds (with a maximum cap of
from your academic yearly allowance 20% of your Year 1 total claims allowance) will
bucket, and partly from your be carried over using the 80:20 academic to
non-academic yearly allowance non-academic ratio, into your Year 2 claims.

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4. Will I be able to carry-over unused funds from year 2 to year 3, or from year 3 to year 4, or from year 4 to year 5?

Answer: You will be able to carry forward up to 20% of your year 1 claims to year 2 only. We will be making any
necessary adjustments to your year 2 claims during the semester 4 disbursement cycle. You will not be able to carry
forward unused funds after year 2 or in subsequent years.

5. What will happen to any unused funds at the end of year 2 and in subsequent years?

Answer: Any unused funds at the end of year 2 and in subsequent years will be forfeited by the scholar.

Section 6: Other Questions

1. When are we expected to receive the fund for the 1st year

Answer: As soon as the onboarding and scholarship acceptance formalities are completed, the scholarship amount will
be disbursed, likely by August.

2. I have changed my course at University, and it still falls under the eligible RF Scholarship eligible subjects. What do
I need to do?

Answer: Please email us at [email protected] with your new course information as well as a
proof of new course enrolment and your justification for changing courses. We will then review and confirm.

3. My correspondence address has changed. How can I change it?

Answer: Please email any updates to your correspondence address to our team at:
[email protected]