Stricter rules for delayed birth, death registration to kick in from October 1

Provisions of a newly enacted law tightening rules for delayed registration of births and deaths will come into force from October 1, Registrar General of India Mrityunjay Kumar Narayan said on Wednesday.

The Registration of Births and Deaths (Amendment) Bill, 2026, passed by both Houses of Parliament, became law after receiving the President's assent last month. In a gazette notification, Narayan stated that the Central Government has appointed October 1, 2026, as the date on which the provisions of the Act will take effect, exercising powers under sub-section (2) of section 1 of the Registration of Births and Deaths (Amendment) Act, 2026.

The new law amends Section 13(3) of the Registration of Births and Deaths Act, 1969, as previously amended in 2023, making provisions for delayed registration more stringent in order to encourage timely reporting of births and deaths.

Under the revised rules, applications filed more than one year but within two years of a birth or death will still require an order from a District Magistrate, Sub-Divisional Magistrate or an authorised executive magistrate, who must verify the correctness of the event before registration can proceed on payment of a prescribed fee. For applications filed more than two years after the event, the law now mandates a higher level of judicial scrutiny, requiring an order from a judicial magistrate of the first class.

The Registration of Births and Deaths Act, 1969, provides for the regulation of birth and death registration in India. Registration is mandatory under the Act, and the certificate issued serves as legal proof of identity, admissible as evidence to establish a person's birth or death. The Act was previously amended in 2023, with those provisions having come into force on October 1 of that year.