GOVERNMENT OF WEST BENGAL
Department of Health & Family Welfare
Swasthya Bhawan,
GN-29, Sector-V, Salt Lake City, Kolkata-700 091
NOTIFICATION
No. HFW/50099/3/2025-SBHI SEC(DHS)-Dept. of H&FW/101 Date:- 08.07.2026
In exercise of the powers conferred by section 30 of the Registration of Births and Deaths Act, 1969 (18 of 1969) the State Government of West Bengal with the approval of the Central Government, hereby frames the Registration of Births and Deaths (Amendment) Rules, 2026 to amend the West Bengal Registration of Births and Deaths Rules, 2000, Namely:-
Short title and commencement
1. (1) These rules may be called the West Bengal Registration of Births and Deaths (Amendment) Rules, 2026.
(2) They shall come into force from the date of their publication in the Official Gazette.
2. In the West Bengal Registration of Births and Deaths Rules, 2000 (hereinafter referred to as the principal rules), in rule 5, after sub-rule (3), the following sub rules shall be inserted, namely:-
“(4) Name, wherever it occurs, in Forms referred to in West Bengal Registration of Births and Deaths (Amendment) Rules, 2026, shall be provided in the format of (first name) (middle name) (last name) and the name shall not contain any abbreviations.
(5) Date, wherever it occurs, in Forms referred to in West Bengal Registration of Births and Deaths (Amendment) Rules, 2026, shall be provided in the format of dd-mm-yyyy, where dd is the date in two digits, mm is the month in two digits and yyyy is the year in four digits.
(6) The address, wherever it occurs, in Forms referred to in West Bengal Registration of Births and Deaths (Amendment) Rules, 2026, shall contain the name of State or Union Territory, District, Sub-district, Town or Village, Ward number (in case of town and if available), Locality, House number and PIN Code.”.
3. In rule 8 of the principal rules, –
(a) in the marginal heading, for the word, figures and brackets “section 10(3)”, the words, brackets and figures “sub-sections (2) and (3) of section 10” shall be substituted;
(b) after the words “certificate as to the cause of death”, the words “including the history of illness, if any, shall be inserted;
(c) for the words, brackets and figure “sub-section (3)”, the words, brackets and figures “sub-sections (2) and (3)” shall be substituted;
(d) for the words, figures and letter “Form No.4 or 4A”, the words, figures and letter “Form No. 4 and 4A respectively” shall be substituted.
4. In rule 9 of the principal rules, –
(a) in the marginal heading, for the words “Extracts of registration entries to be given”, the words “Certificate of registration of births or deaths to be given” shall be substituted;
(b) in the sub-rule (1), –
(i) for the words “extracts of particulars”, the words “certificate of birth or death extracted” shall be substituted;
(ii) after the words “given to an informant”, the words “,electronically or otherwise,” shall be inserted;
(c) for sub-rule (2), the following sub-rule shall be substituted, namely:-
“(2) In the case of domiciliary events of births and deaths, as the case may be, referred to in clauses (a), (aa), (ab) and (ac) of sub-section (1) of section 8 which are reported direct to the Registrar of Births and Deaths, the head of the house or household, as the case may be, or, in his absence, the nearest relative of the head present in the house, or, in his absence, the oldest adult person present, the adoptive parents, the parent, and the biological parent, as the case may be, may obtain electronically or otherwise the certificate of birth or death from the Registrar within thirty days of its reporting.”;
(d) in sub-rule (3), –
(i) after the words “shall transmit”, the words “,electronically or otherwise,” shall be inserted;
(ii) for the word “extracts”, the word “certificate” shall be substituted;
(iii) after the words “present in the house”, the words “or, in his absence, the oldest adult person present,” shall be inserted;
(e) in sub-rule (4), –
(i) for the words, brackets and letters “births and deaths referred to in clauses (b) to (e)”, the words, brackets and letters “births and deaths, as the case may be, referred to in clauses (b) to (e) and (da), (db) and (dc)” shall be substituted;
(ii) for the word “collect”, the words “obtain electronically or otherwise” shall be substituted;
(iii) for the word “extract”, the word “certificate” shall be substituted;
(f) in sub-rule (5), for the word “extract”, the word “certificate” shall be substituted.
5. In rule 10 of the principal rules, –
(a) in sub-rule (1), for the words “rupee two”, the words “twenty rupees” shall be substituted;
(b) for sub-rules (2) and (3), the following sub-rules shall be substituted, namely:-
“(2) Any birth or death of which delayed information is given to the Registrar after thirty days but within one year of its occurrence, shall be registered only with the written permission of the District Registrar or the officer prescribed in this behalf and on payment of a late fee of fifty rupees and on production of self-attested document, electronically or otherwise, in Form No. 14.
(3) Any birth or death of which delayed information is given to the Registrar after one year but within two years of its occurrence, shall be registered only on an Order made by a District Magistrate or Sub-Divisional Magistrate or by an Executive Magistrate authorized by the District Magistrate, having jurisdiction over the area where the birth or death has taken place and on payment of a late fee of one hundred rupees.
Provided that any birth or death of which delayed information is given to the Registrar after two years of its occurrence, shall be registered only on an order made by a Judicial Magistrate of the first class, having jurisdiction over the area where the birth or death has taken place and on payment of a late fee of one hundred rupees.
After sub-rule 3 of rule 10 of draft rules: The followings are to be inserted.
(i) The informant shall submit a self-declaration in the prescribed format, Form No. 14, mentioning purpose for the requirement of such permission for delayed registration.
The Issuing Authority shall, before granting permission for delayed registration of any birth or death under these rules, verify the correctness of the event by examining the documents submitted, conducting a physical inquiry if necessary, and ensuring consistency with records maintained by medical institutions or government departments, as applicable.
In case of any doubt regarding the accuracy of the information furnished, the issuing Authority may call for additional evidence or refer the matter to a higher authority for further verification.
Where the information furnished is found to be false, misleading or unsubstantiated, the Authority may reject the application with written reasons. The informant may prefer an appeal before the Chief Registrar within thirty (30) days from the date of such rejection.
(4) In case of Non-Institutional Deaths, a medical certificate declaring the death of the deceased person shall mandatorily be certified by the duly qualified medical practitioner having at least a degree of MBBS recognized by the Medical council of India and West Bengal State Council or duly qualified medical practitioner having at least a degree of Indian System of Medicine and Homeopathy (AYUSH) registered in the State Register of West Bengal.
6. In rule 13 of the principal rules, after the words and figure “Forms No. 1”, the figure and letter “, 1A” shall be inserted.
7. In rule 14 of the principal rules, –
(a) in sub-rule (1),-
(i) for the words “an extract”, the words “a certificate of birth or death” shall be substituted;
(ii) for the words and figures “issued under section 17, shall be as follow”, the words and figures “issued under section 17, electronically or otherwise, shall be as follows” shall be substituted;
(iii) for the word “Re.”, the word “Rupees” shall be substituted;
(iv) for the figures “2.00”, wherever it occurs, the figures “20.00” shall be substituted respectively;
(v) in clause (c), –
(I) for the word “extract”, the word “certificate” shall be substituted;
(II) for the figures “5.00”, the figures “50.00” shall be substituted;
(b) in sub-rule (2), for the words “extract in regard to a birth or death shall be issued”, the words and figures certificate on the basis of extract from the register relating to birth or death shall be issued under section 17,” shall be substituted;
(c) in sub-rule (4), for the word “extracts”, the word “certificate” shall be substituted.
8. In rule 17 of the principal rules, for sub-rule (2), the following sub-rule shall be substituted, namely:-
“(2) Any such offence may be compounded on payment of such sum, not exceeding two hundred and fifty rupees for offences under sub-sections (1), (2) and (4), fifty rupees for offences under sub-section (3), and one thousand rupees in respect of each birth or death for offences under sub-section (1A) and (4A) of section 23, as the said officer may think fit”.
9. After rule 17 of the principal rules, the following rule shall be inserted, namely:-
“17A. Appeal.- An appeal under sub-section (1) of section 25A shall be preferred in Form No. 15.”.
10. In rule 18 of the principal rules, –
(a) in sub-rule (2), for the words and figures “court orders and orders of the specified authorities granting permission for delayed registration received under section 13 by the Registrar”, the words, brackets and figures “permission granted under sub-section (2) of section 13 and the orders issue under sub-section (3) of section 13 for delayed registration received by the Registrar” shall be substituted;
(b) in sub-rule (3), for the words, brackets and figure “sub-section (3) , the words, brackets and figures “sub-sections (2) and (3)” shall be substituted.
11. In the principal rules, for the Forms 1,1A,2,3,4,4A,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12 and 13, the following Forms shall be substituted, namely:-