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eSign Your Leave Letter Online with Aadhaar

Draft a clean leave application for your office, school, or college and sign it with Aadhaar OTP in under two minutes. Legally valid under the IT Act 2000. Rs. 15 per signature.

Powered by eMudhraIT Act 2000 Compliant2-minute signing
By Priya Sharma, Legal Content Lead·Last updated April 2026
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The basics

What is a Leave Letter?

A leave letter, also called a leave application, is a short written request from an employee, student, or parent asking the employer, school, or college to grant time off for a specific reason. It states who is applying, the type of leave (casual, sick, earned, maternity, study, or personal), the dates or duration, the reason, and any handover or cover arrangements. A good leave letter is polite, specific, and dated so the receiving authority can record it against the applicant's attendance.

In an office setting, leave letters are usually addressed to the reporting manager or the HR department and follow the company's leave policy. Some organisations use email, some use an HRMS portal, and some still want a signed PDF on file. For schools and colleges, a leave letter is typically addressed to the class teacher, the principal, or the head of department, and for younger students the parent or guardian signs on the child's behalf. Parents also write leave letters to request permission for a half day, a medical appointment, a family function, or a travel plan.

Leave Letter

Sample PDF

Digitally Signed

via Aadhaar eSign

Who uses SignSetu for leave letters?

Built for Indian professionals who care about speed, cost, and legal validity.

Office employees

Apply for casual leave, sick leave, earned leave, maternity or paternity leave, or loss-of-pay leave and keep a signed record against your employee ID.

School and college students

Request leave from class for illness, family functions, medical appointments, or competitive exam travel, signed by the student or the parent.

Parents and guardians

Write a signed leave letter on behalf of a minor child explaining the absence to the class teacher or principal.

Teachers and institutional staff

Apply for leave from the principal or management and keep a signed copy for attendance and salary records.

How it works

From upload to signed PDF in under 2 minutes.

1

Draft your leave letter

Pick the right format for office, school, or college. Fill in the dates, reason, and contact number. Export it as a PDF.

2

Upload the PDF to SignSetu

Drop the leave letter into SignSetu. You are the only signer, so no recipient setup is needed.

3

eSign with your Aadhaar OTP

Enter your Aadhaar number, get an OTP on your registered mobile, and the leave letter is signed and ready to send to your manager, principal, or class teacher.

eSign your leave letter now

Drop the PDF, add your signer, done in 2 minutes. Just the applicant = Rs. 15 per leave letter.

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Essential clauses to include

Make sure your leave letter includes these before you sign.

Date of writing the letter
Full address of the recipient (manager, principal, class teacher, or HR)
Clear subject line stating the type of leave and the dates
Full name, designation or class, and employee or roll number of the applicant
Specific reason for the leave, written in one or two honest sentences
Exact start date, end date, and total number of days requested
Handover or work-cover arrangement for office leave, or pending assignment note for student leave
Contact number on which the applicant can be reached during the leave
Polite closing line requesting approval
Signature of the applicant, or of the parent for a minor child

Common mistakes to avoid

What goes wrong when leave letters are signed the traditional way.

Writing a vague reason like 'personal work' without any context, which managers often push back on

Forgetting to mention the exact start and end dates, leading to confusion about when the employee or student returns

Not including a handover plan for office leave, which frustrates the team and the manager

Sending the leave letter after the leave has already started, instead of before

Mixing up casual leave, sick leave, and earned leave, which can cause the wrong leave type to be deducted

For parents, forgetting to mention the child's class and section, making it hard for the school office to file the letter

Legally valid under Indian law

A leave letter is an internal administrative communication. It is not a statutory form, does not attract stamp duty, and does not need notarisation or registration. It is fully eligible for Aadhaar eSign under Section 3A of the Information Technology Act, 2000, which gives electronic signatures backed by Aadhaar the same legal standing as a handwritten signature for documents that are not excluded under Schedule I of the Act. Leave letters are not on the Schedule I exclusion list, so an Aadhaar eSigned leave letter is fully valid. The leave itself is granted or denied as per the organisation's leave policy, the terms of the employment contract, the Shops and Establishments Act of the state, or the Factories Act, 1948 where applicable. For women employees, maternity leave is governed by the Maternity Benefit Act, 1961 and a leave letter referencing that Act is still a written request, not a self-executing entitlement. For school and college students, the institution's attendance and leave rules apply, and the UGC attendance requirement of 75 percent for most university courses is worth keeping in mind when drafting repeat leave requests. A leave letter is single-party signing. Only the applicant (or the parent, for a minor) needs to eSign. The approving authority signs the approval separately in the HRMS or on a counter-signed copy. If your organisation uses a leave management portal, the eSigned PDF can be uploaded as the supporting document against your leave request.

Reference: Section 3A, IT Act 2000

Important note

A leave letter only requests leave. Whether the leave is granted depends on the employer's or institution's leave policy and the manager's approval. Keeping an eSigned copy is useful as proof that the request was made on time.

Pricing

₹15/signature

Just the applicant = Rs. 15 per leave letter

No subscription. No minimums. Credits never expire.

See full pricing details

Frequently asked questions

Is a signed PDF leave letter valid in an Indian office?
Yes. Under Section 3A of the IT Act 2000, an Aadhaar eSigned leave letter has the same legal standing as a handwritten one. Most Indian offices accept a signed PDF over email or uploaded to the HRMS.
Can a parent sign a leave letter for a school-going child?
Yes, and that is the standard practice for minors. The parent or guardian signs on behalf of the child, and the school records it against the child's roll number and class.
What is the difference between a leave letter and a leave application?
They mean the same thing in Indian usage. 'Leave letter' is the common phrase in schools and offices, while 'leave application' is more formal and is often the heading used in college and government settings.
Do I need stamp paper for a leave letter?
No. A leave letter is an internal request, not a legal instrument. No stamp duty applies and no notarisation is needed.
Can I backdate a leave letter for a day I was already absent?
You can write a leave letter after the fact (often called a regularisation request), but you should clearly mention that it is a post-facto request. Many HR policies allow this for sick leave with a medical note.
How many days of leave can I ask for in one letter?
There is no fixed cap in the letter itself. The cap comes from your company leave policy or the institution's attendance rules. Mention the exact start and end date so the recipient can check eligibility.
Does my manager also need to eSign the leave letter?
No. The applicant is the only signer of the letter. The approval by the manager, HR, or principal is recorded separately in the HRMS, the leave register, or a counter-signed copy.

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