What is a birth and death certificate, and when are they issued?

Under the Registration of Births and Deaths Act of 1969, every birth/ stillbirth and death in India must be registered in the respective state/UT. All births and deaths occurring at home or in a hospital must be notified within 21 days to the Registrar or Sub-registrar in whose jurisdiction the event occurred. The government has established a well-defined system for birth registration, with the Registrar General at the centre, the Chief Registrars in the States, district registrars, and village and town registrars in the periphery.

1969 Act on the Registration of Births and Deaths

The Births and Deaths Registration Act of 1969 is as follows:

1. The Birth and Death Registration Act of 1969 is the official name of this law.
2. It encompasses the entirety of India.
3. It shall become effective in a State on the date that by publishing in the official gazette, the central government stipulates: Provided that various dates may be designated for different areas of a State.

Birth and death certificate: Legal requirements

Registrar 

Registrar in accordance with Section 7 of the RBD Act of 1969: Each local jurisdiction has designated registrars to record births and deaths within its jurisdiction. The state government may designate registrars from a municipality, panchayat, government health facility, or other local body.

Institutions

In accordance with the Registration of Births and Deaths Act of 1969, it is the registrar’s duty to report births and deaths that occur in a hospital, health centre, maternity or nursing home, or similar institution.

Public

If someone is born or dies, citizens are required to notify the registrar of their jurisdiction within 21 days. In the event of death, a citizen must include the original doctor’s certificate with the burial or cremation.

Birth and death certificate: Definitions and explanations

1. Unless the context indicates otherwise, in this act:

(a) Birth means live birth;

(b) Death refers to the permanent disappearance of all signs of life at any time after live birth

(c) Foetal death refers to the absence of all signs of life before the complete expulsion or extraction of the foetus from its mother, regardless of the duration of pregnancy

(d) Live birth refers to the complete expulsion or extraction of the foetus from its mother, regardless of the duration of pregnancy.

Each provision of this act that makes reference to a law that is not in effect in a given area shall be construed as a reference to a similar law, if any, that is in effect in that area.

Birth and death certificate: Mandated individuals to record births and deaths

It is the responsibility of the following individuals to supply or cause to be supplied, orally or in writing:

• The person recognised as the head of the household, if more than one household resides in the house; moreover, if he is absent from the residence at any point during the period, he forfeits the deposit. during which the birth or death must be reported, the closest relative of the head present in the house at the time. This applies to births and deaths that occur in a house, whether residential or non-residential, that is not referred to in sections (b)through (e).
• In the case of births and deaths happening in a hospital, health centre, maternity or nursing home, or other institution of a similar character, the medical officer in charge or a person authorised by him is responsible for registering the birth or death.
• With regard to births and deaths in a jail, the in-charge jailer.
• The person in charge of a choultry, chatram, hostel, boarding house, lodging-house, tavern, barracks, or place of public resort for births and deaths that occur there.
• In the event of a village, the headman or other similar person, and elsewhere, the officer in command of the local police station, in the case of a newborn child or dead body found abandoned in a public place, provided that any person who finds such a child or body or in whose care such a child or body may be placed, shall notify the headman or officer aforesaid.
• In all other locations, the person prescribed by law.

Birth and death certificate: Individuals required to report births and deaths and declare the reason for death

It shall be the duty of:

1. At the time of birth or death, the midwife or another doctor or health care provider,
2. The custodian or owner of a location designated for the disposal of dead bodies, or any individual obliged by a local authority to be present at such a location, or
3. Any other person designated by the state government must report every birth or death, or both, at which he or she was present or attended or which occurred in such an area.

In any region, the state government, taking into account the facilities available for this purpose, may require the registrar to acquire a certificate as to the cause of death from the specified person and in the prescribed format.

Birth and death certificate: Informant to sign the registrar

Every person who has orally provided the registrar with any information required by this act shall write his name, description, and place of residence in the register maintained in this regard; if he cannot write, he shall put his thumb mark in the register against his name, description, and place of residence, with the registrar entering the particulars in such a case.

Birth and death certificate: Late registration of births and deaths

1. Any birth of which information is supplied to the registrar after the expiration of the term stipulated therefor, but within thirty days of its occurrence, shall be recorded upon payment of the appropriate late fee.
2. Any birth or death for which delayed information is supplied to the registrar after thirty days but within one year of the event may only be registered with the written approval of the relevant authority, payment of the required fee, and submission of an affidavit sworn before a notary public or other officer approved by the state government in this regard.
3. A birth or death that has not been recorded within a year of its occurrence may only be registered on the order of a Magistrate of the first class or a Magistrate of the Presidency, following verification of the birth or death and payment of the specified fee.
4. The requirements of this section are without prejudice to any action that may be brought against a person for failing to register a birth or death within the time specified, and the birth or death can be registered while the case is going on.

Birth and death certificate: Correction or deletion of an entry in the births and deaths register

Suppose it is established to the registrar’s satisfaction that any entry of a birth or death in a register maintained by him pursuant to this act is incorrect in form or substance or has been fraudulently or unlawfully created. In such a case, the registrar may, according to the state government’s laws regarding the conditions and circumstances under which such entries may be rectified or cancelled, fix the error or cancel the entry by a suitable entry in the margin without a request for correction or cancellation.

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