Parliament Tightens Rules for Delayed Birth and Death Registrations

Parliament has passed the Registration of Births and Deaths (Amendment) Bill, 2026, introducing stricter procedures for people seeking to register a birth or death more than two years after the event. The legislation changes the authority responsible for approving such delayed registrations, shifting cases beyond the two-year threshold from the administrative system to the judiciary.

Under the amended framework, applications delayed by more than one year but up to two years will continue to require approval from an executive magistrate. However, registrations

delayed beyond two years will now need an order from a judicial magistrate of the first class. Such magistrates function under the judicial system and are appointed by High Courts.

The government has said the change is aimed at making delayed registrations more rigorous and encouraging citizens to report births and deaths within the prescribed time. The amendment affects Section 13(3) of the Registration of Births and Deaths Act, 1969, which deals specifically with delayed registrations. The Bill was introduced in the Lok Sabha by Union Home Minister Amit Shah on July 24 and subsequently cleared by the Rajya Sabha. It will come into effect after the President gives assent and the Centre notifies the commencement date in the Official Gazette.

The legislation builds on major changes introduced through an amendment to the 1969 law in 2023. That reform strengthened the role of birth certificates in India’s identity system, making them the primary document for establishing the date and place of birth for people born from October 1, 2023. The certificate can be used for several purposes, including school admissions, passports, Aadhaar enrolment, voter registration, driving licences, marriage registration and government appointments.

The scale of delayed registrations makes the latest amendment significant. According to the Civil Registration System’s 2024 data, India recorded around 25.47 million births and 8.94 million deaths during the year. While registration coverage had reached 99.1% for births and 99.4% for deaths, timely reporting remained a challenge. Around 5.87 million births recorded in 2024 were registered more than a year after the event, while approximately 627,000 deaths were reported with a similar delay. Bihar and Uttar Pradesh accounted for a substantial number of late birth registrations.