Fearing fake certificates, Centre orders stricter scrutiny of digitised birth and death records

Introduction

The office of the Registrar General of India is implementing stringent checks to prevent the fraudulent digitisation of old records following a surge in demand for digitised birth certificates. The surge is driven by an ongoing special intensive revision of electoral rolls, where birth certificates are accepted identity documents. To combat compromised registrar credentials and unauthorized certificates, authorities are introducing new security measures and planning legislative amendments during the upcoming Monsoon session of Parliament.

Background

The office of the Registrar General of India functions under the Ministry of Home Affairs. Previously, individual States maintained their own databases and shared statistics with the Registrar General of India office. The database managed by the Registrar General of India is utilized to update electoral rolls, Aadhaar, the National Population Register, ration cards, and property registrations.

The Registration of Births and Deaths Act, 1969, was amended in 2023 to make online registration of births and deaths mandatory on the Central Civil Registration System portal. Under current regulations, hospitals are required to report every birth within 21 days. For children born on or after October 1, 2023, a digital birth certificate serves as the single required document to prove date of birth for multiple services, including educational institution admissions, government jobs, and marriage registrations.

Latest Developments

In certain instances, registrar credentials were compromised because user IDs, passwords, or one-time passwords were shared with unauthorized individuals, leading to complaints regarding fake or unauthorized digitised certificates. A letter issued on June 12 by A.K. Pandey, Deputy Registrar General for Civil Registration System, warned States about these compromised registrar credentials and unauthorized or fake digitised certificates.

Following this, on July 6, the Registrar General of India asked States to identify registration units with unexplained spikes in registrations and urged registration units to implement security, transparency, traceability, and authenticity measures. Union Home Minister Amit Shah is likely to review the birth and death registration system in West Bengal during his visit from July 17 to 19. Furthermore, the Ministry of Home Affairs plans to introduce a Bill during the Monsoon session of Parliament, commencing July 20, to further amend the Registration of Births and Deaths Act, 2023, making delayed registration provisions more stringent.

Key Facts

The office of the Registrar General of India is implementing stringent checks to prevent the fraudulent digitisation of old records. The surge in demand for digitised birth certificates is driven by the ongoing special intensive revision of electoral rolls. New security measures require mandatory online application verification by the registrar against original registers. Registrars must upload supporting documents, including the applicant's certificate and the relevant register page. All applications must be forwarded to the district registrar for approval. Additional documents, such as the application form, must be submitted when a registrar enters a request on behalf of an applicant. Mandatory scrutiny and approval by the district registrar are required before any digitised certificate is issued. Compulsory use of e-signatures by district registrars ensures authenticity, accountability, and an audit trail. Approved applications are returned to the registrar for final digital certificate issuance. State committees have been asked to review digitisation and legacy record preservation status, maintain original registers securely, and ensure manual certificates are verified against corresponding registers before digitisation.

Conclusion

The implementation of rigorous security protocols and upcoming legislative amendments addresses vulnerabilities within the Civil Registration System. By enforcing strict verification processes, mandatory district-level approvals, and e-signatures, authorities aim to prevent the misuse of the registration system and stop the issuance of fake or unauthorized digitised certificates. These measures ensure enhanced security, transparency, traceability, and authenticity across national identity and administrative databases.