NEWS / India considers stricter requirements for delayed birth and death certificates

The Indian parliament is considering a bill that would impose stricter requirements for the registration of births and deaths, particularly for cases when registration occurs more than 2 years after those events. The move is aimed at discouraging fraudulent or excessively delayed registration of vital records.

According to the New Indian Express, the Registration of Births and Deaths (Amendment) Bill of 2026 was circulated among the members the Indian parliament proposes amending the 1969 Registration of Births and Death Act, which stipulates that registrations delayed by more than 1 year require an order from the District Magistrate, Sub-District Magistrate, or Executive Magistrate before they can be recorded.

The proposed amendments state that registration delayed by over 2 years would require the order of a First-Class Judicial Magistrate, thus shifting the responsibility away from the executive to the judiciary. The bill also requires the responsible authority to verify the authenticity of the reported births and deaths before approving delayed registration, with a prescribed fee applying to such cases.

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