How to apply for a birth certificate in India (2026)

A hospital birth is often reported by the facility itself. A home birth is reported by the parent to the local registrar. Both routes end as a legal birth certificate under India's Civil Registration System, not as a hospital discharge slip.

That certificate is what schools, passports, and Aadhaar desks ask for. The hospital “birth slip” or discharge summary is only supporting proof. Do not stop at the slip.

Start here. The first question is not “which app.” It is where the child was born, because that decides who must report the event.

If the child was born in a hospital and the front desk says “we already sent it,” still search CRS or the municipal site with the mother's name and date of birth. Collect the certificate yourself. Hospitals report. They do not always hand you the signed extract.

Three official channels exist. Your district may use one or all of them.

• Central CRS citizen portal: dc.crsorgi.gov.in (also described on crsorgi.gov.in). The citizen login is open for events in the States and UTs listed on that home page. If your state is not listed, use the local body instead.
• Municipal corporation / municipality / cantonment / panchayat: the Registrar of Births and Deaths at the place of birth. This is the legal office even when CRS is also live.
• State e-District / ServicePlus: some states wrap the same registrar workflow inside the state single-window.

There is no fee if the event is reported within the normal period of 21 days from the date of birth. That 21-day window is what the Civil Registration System FAQ itself states. After that, delayed registration under section 13 of the Registration of Births and Deaths Act applies, and fees vary by state. CRS pricing text says delayed-registration fees are set in State Rules, not as one Union slab.

Do not pay a private “CRS agent” site. Bookmark only gov.in hosts.

1. Ask the hospital whether they have already reported the birth, and note any event or acknowledgement number.
2. Search that event on dc.crsorgi.gov.in or on the municipal / e-District site for the place of birth.
3. Create a citizen login if the portal requires one. Use a mobile number the parent will keep.
4. File the birth report if no event exists: child's sex, date and place of birth, parents' names, and address.
5. Upload the proofs that screen lists. A home birth needs the extra local proofs; a hospital birth often needs the discharge record.
6. Name the child when the form allows. If the name was blank at first report, use the name-inclusion service later rather than inventing a second registration.
7. Pay only if the portal shows a late-registration or extract fee set by that state.
8. Download the digitally signed certificate, or collect the paper extract from the registrar.

If the birth was not reported in the normal period, the registrar will treat it as delayed registration. CRS points to section 13 of the Act and to State Rules for fee and extra papers.

What almost every local office asks, in some mix:

• An application explaining why the report is late
• An affidavit or declaration in the form that district uses
• Proof of birth and of the child's identity as available (school record, hospital paper, immunization card)
• Parent identity and address
• In older cases, an order or permission from the authority that your State Rules name

Do not treat a blog's “after 21 days, after 30 days, after one year” fee ladder as national law. Those rupee figures differ by state. Do not assume a magistrate order is always required, or never required. Ask the local registrar which delayed-registration form applies to this child's age and place of birth.

An adult who never had a certificate can still apply. Passport and pension desks ask for it often. Budget extra time for verification. There is no Union “tatkaal birth certificate” fee we can quote for every city.

Once the registrar has registered the event:

• On CRS, use the download / print certificate service with the registration number.
• On a municipal site, use the citizen extract / reprint service.
• On e-District, open the completed application and print the PDF.

A digitally signed extract from the registrar is the legal certificate. Reprint if you lose the file. Keep a paper copy as well if a school still wants a wet stamp. If the PDF will not open, try the municipal counter rather than paying a typing shop to “reissue” it.

Newborn birth certificate delays usually come from a missing child name, a mismatch in the mother's name versus Aadhaar, or the hospital never completing the report. Fix the record at the same registrar. Do not file a second birth in another town.

Typical papers, always confirm on the local form:

• Hospital discharge summary or facility reporting copy, for a facility birth
• Parent Aadhaar or other photo ID
• Proof of address in that registrar's area, if asked
• Marriage certificate of parents, only if that municipality lists it
• Attendant / ANM / midwife statement, for a home birth
• Affidavit and extra proof, for late registration as the registrar lists
• Older school leaving certificate or identity papers, for an adult first-time registration

For later Aadhaar of the child, the birth certificate is the usual date-of-birth proof. Enrolment steps: how to apply for Aadhaar.

• Stopping at the hospital slip and discovering at school admission that no registrar extract exists.
• Applying in the city you live in now, when the birth was in another district. Registration follows place of birth.
• Creating a second CRS login and a second event because the hospital report is slow to appear.
• Spelling the mother's name differently from her Aadhaar, then failing every later KYC.
• Paying a private site that copies the CRS logo.
• Inventing a date of birth to match a school record. Ask for correction of the existing entry instead.
• Using an agent who promises a magistrate order in a day. Late registration is a registrar process plus whatever extra your State Rules require.

The Public Information Officer is usually the Registrar of Births and Deaths in the municipal corporation, municipality, cantonment, or gram panchayat of the place of birth. In a large corporation it may sit in the health or vital-statistics wing.

Apply under RTI Act 2005 s.6(1). The PIO must reply in 30 days under s.7(1). File a first appeal under s.19(1) if that clock is ignored.

Fee and mode follow your state's RTI fee and state RTI portal.

1. Status of birth registration / certificate application number ______ dated ______ for child ______, date of birth ______.
2. Whether the hospital / informant has already reported the event, and the CRS or municipal event number if allotted.
3. Name and designation of the dealing registrar or clerk.
4. Copy of the birth report, notings, and any objection memo.
5. If delayed registration was invoked, the extra document still pending and the State Rule cited.
6. The date the digitally signed certificate will be available for download, or the reason it cannot be issued.

Draft with AI RTI Drafter. Appeal with First Appeal Builder. The longer method sits in The RTI Playbook.

If the hospital lost the indoor record, a separate RTI to the hospital PIO for the birth register extract often unblocks the registrar.

Search the event first on dc.crsorgi.gov.in or your municipal / e-District site. If the hospital already reported it, download or request the extract. If not, file the birth report yourself on that official portal or at the registrar counter.

CRS is the Civil Registration System run for the Registrar General of India. Citizen registration and download for listed States and UTs run through dc.crsorgi.gov.in. The information host is crsorgi.gov.in.

Go to the vital statistics / health counter of the corporation (or municipality) of the place of birth, or use that body's citizen portal. The municipal registrar is the legal issuing office even when CRS is also online.

Ask the hospital if they reported the birth. Then search CRS or the local portal with the mother's name and date. Add the child's name if the first report left it blank. Do not wait until school admission.

Yes, as delayed registration. Extra declaration and, in some cases, permission from the authority named in State Rules will be asked. Confirm the exact papers with the local registrar. Do not rely on a national day-cutoff chart copied from a blog.

The registrar-issued certificate (including a digitally signed CRS or municipal extract) is the legal document. The hospital slip only helps prove the event.

Use the acknowledgement or registration number on CRS, municipal, or e-District. Walkthrough: birth certificate status check.

• Birth certificate status check
• How to apply for Aadhaar
• How to apply for a death certificate
• All how-to-apply guides
• Citizen crisis response network
• AI RTI Drafter
• The RTI Playbook
• Death certificate apply online CRS 2026

• CRS citizen portal (dc.crsorgi.gov.in)
• Civil Registration System (crsorgi.gov.in)
• RTI Act, 2005

Reviewed for RTI Wiki by Dr. Shrawan Kumar Pathak.