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How to pledge your organs — complete 2026 guide

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—apply-organ-donor-pledge-2026 [2026/04/26 13:02] (current) – created - external edit 127.0.0.1
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 +{{htmlmetatags>metatag-keywords=(how to pledge organs India,NOTTO organ donor registration,notto.abdm.gov.in,organ donor card 2026,THOA Act 1994,brain death organ donation,kidney heart eye pledge,body donation medical college,National Organ Transplant Programme,family consent organ donation,NOTTO helpline 1800-11-4770,deceased donor pledge,living donor rules India,SOTTO state register,donor card Aadhaar)&metatag-description=(Step-by-step 2026 guide to pledging your organs and tissues for transplantation in India — register on NOTTO at notto.abdm.gov.in, link with Aadhaar, get a downloadable donor card, inform your family, and the legal status under THOA 1994. Plain language. With escalation: NOTTO helpline → SOTTO → MoHFW → RTI to PIO.)}}
 +
 +====== How to pledge your organs — complete 2026 guide ======
 +
 +{{ :social:auto:apply-organ-donor-pledge-2026.png?direct&1200 |How to pledge your organs in India — RTI Wiki citizen guide 2026}}
 +
 +{{page>snippets:dpdp-banner}}
 +
 +<WRAP info>
 +**Quick answer.** Register your organ-and-tissue pledge on the **NOTTO portal** at **notto.abdm.gov.in** (run by the National Organ and Tissue Transplant Organisation under the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare). Sign in with Aadhaar/mobile OTP, fill the **Form 7 pledge** (specify which organs and tissues), and download your **donor card** instantly (PDF). The pledge is for **after-death donation** under the Transplantation of Human Organs and Tissues Act 1994 (THOA); it does **not** authorise removal during your life. The actual donation, after your death, requires **your family's consent at that moment** — so your most important next step is **telling your family** that you have pledged. Body donation for medical research is a separate registration with the nearest medical college's anatomy department. Only **~0.65 donors per million population** is the current Indian rate (NOTTO 2024) — every pledge matters.
 +</WRAP>
 +
 +===== Aarav's story — "I pledged my kidneys, heart and eyes the morning my uncle died waiting" =====
 +
 +<WRAP center round box 80%>
 +//Aarav Deshmukh, 31, civil engineer in Pune. Pledged organs and corneas through NOTTO in October 2024 after his maternal uncle, Vinod, died on a kidney transplant waitlist at SBHS Mumbai.//
 +
 +> "My uncle Vinod kaka was on dialysis for 5 years. He was on the waitlist with ROTTO West for a deceased-donor kidney from August 2019. He died waiting in September 2024. The morning after his cremation I sat down and registered on notto.abdm.gov.in. It took 9 minutes. I pledged kidneys, heart, liver, lungs, pancreas, corneas, skin, and bone. Got the PDF card in my email immediately. Then the harder part — telling my parents. My mother cried for two days. We sat at the kitchen table and I explained that the pledge means nothing unless they say 'yes' at the hospital. We added the donor card photo to the family WhatsApp group with one line: 'If anything happens to me, please honour this.' My father quietly signed up the next week.
 +
 +> In December 2025 I tried to update my Aadhaar address on the NOTTO portal — it would not pull the new e-KYC and the old card still showed my hostel address. The 1800-11-4770 helpline kept saying 'try again after 24 hours' for three weeks. I sent an RTI by Speed Post on 8 January 2026 to the PIO at NOTTO Safdarjung — total cost ₹10 IPO + ₹52 Speed Post. Reply on 4 February (27 days). They confirmed there was a known sync issue between NOTTO and the ABDM eKYC service for cards issued before April 2024, gave me a one-line workaround (deactivate-and-reactivate from the profile page), and copied me on the engineering ticket for system fix. Worked in 10 minutes. **Cost: ₹62. The helpline had told me to wait 'a few more weeks'.**"
 +
 +—Aarav, February 2026
 +</WRAP>
 +
 +In 2024 India did **18,378 organ transplants** — around 86% from living donors and 14% from deceased donors (NOTTO Annual Report 2024-25). The waiting list crossed **2.6 lakh patients** for kidney alone. The single biggest reason families decline donation at brain-death is "we never discussed it with him/her". A pledge **plus a conversation** is what closes that gap.
 +
 +===== What this is — and what the pledge legally does =====
 +
 +An **organ pledge** is your written, recorded consent that, after your death, your organs and tissues may be retrieved for transplantation into a patient on the national/regional waiting list, or for therapeutic, educational and research purposes. It is governed by the **Transplantation of Human Organs and Tissues Act 1994 (THOA)** and the **THOA Rules 2014** (as amended).
 +
 +**What the pledge does:**
 +
 +  * Records your wish, with date and time-stamp, on the **National Organ & Tissue Donor Registry** maintained by NOTTO.
 +  * Issues a downloadable / printable **donor card** with a unique pledge ID.
 +  * Lets your family invoke your wish at the moment of decision (brain-death certification by an authorised hospital team).
 +
 +**What the pledge does NOT do:**
 +
 +  * It does **not** authorise removal of any organ during your life. Living-donor donation (typically a kidney or part-liver) needs a separate, contemporaneous, witnessed consent, plus Authorisation Committee clearance under §9 of THOA.
 +  * It does **not** override your family's right to refuse at the moment of death — Indian law requires **next-of-kin consent** in writing (Form 8) even where the deceased had pledged. This is why telling your family matters more than the card itself.
 +  * It does **not** affect your medical care in any way before death — doctors are statutorily forbidden from being part of both your treating team and the retrieval team (THOA §13).
 +
 +The retrievable organs and tissues under THOA are:
 +
 +  * **Solid organs:** kidneys, liver, heart, lungs, pancreas, intestine.
 +  * **Tissues:** corneas, heart valves, skin, bone, cartilage, tendons, blood vessels.
 +
 +**Body donation** (for medical-college dissection and anatomical training) is a separate process — see Step 7 below.
 +
 +===== Step-by-step process =====
 +
 +==== Step 1 — Decide what you want to pledge ====
 +
 +You can pledge **all** organs and tissues, or only some (e.g., only corneas, or all except heart). There is no "right" answer; tick whatever you are comfortable with. Most pledgers tick all.
 +
 +  * Talk to your family **before** registering — not after — so the conversation is calm, not reactive.
 +  * Discuss religious concerns honestly. All major religions practised in India (Hinduism, Islam, Christianity, Sikhism, Jainism, Buddhism) have explicit statements supporting organ donation as an act of charity (daana / sadaqa-jariyah / agape / seva); printable references are linked from NOTTO's "FAQs by faith" page.
 +
 +==== Step 2 — Open the NOTTO portal ====
 +
 +  * Open https://notto.abdm.gov.in
 +  * Click "**Pledge to Donate Organs**" on the home page.
 +  * The portal is fully integrated with **Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM)** since April 2024 — login can be Aadhaar-OTP, ABHA number, or mobile OTP.
 +
 +==== Step 3 — Fill Form 7 (the pledge form) ====
 +
 +  * Personal info: full name (as per Aadhaar), DOB, gender, blood group (optional but recommended), photograph (auto-pulled from ABHA / Aadhaar e-KYC if you log in with Aadhaar).
 +  * Address (current + permanent).
 +  * **Organs to pledge:** tick boxes for each — kidneys, heart, lungs, liver, pancreas, intestine.
 +  * **Tissues to pledge:** corneas, skin, bone, heart valves, etc.
 +  * **Next-of-kin details:** name, relationship, mobile number, email of two close family members. Crucial — these are the people NOTTO/your hospital will contact at the moment of decision. **Tell them in advance.**
 +  * Optional: "I am willing to be contacted for living-donor counselling for an immediate family member" — this is a **separate** scheme; ticking it does NOT mean you have agreed to live donation.
 +
 +Submit. The portal generates an instant **Pledge Number** (format INDIA/STATE/YYYY/XXXXX) and a PDF donor card with QR code.
 +
 +==== Step 4 — Download and print your donor card ====
 +
 +  * Download the PDF; save to phone wallet (Apple Wallet / Google Wallet via the QR code).
 +  * Print the credit-card-size version, laminate, keep in your wallet.
 +  * Optional: order a free **physical NOTTO donor card** to be posted to your address (delivery 3-6 weeks). Click "Request Physical Card" inside your profile.
 +
 +==== Step 5 — Tell your family — the single most important step ====
 +
 +This step has no portal. Sit down at the dinner table, show the card on your phone, and say it in plain words:
 +
 +> "If something happens to me and the doctor declares brain-death, please say YES to organ donation. I have pledged. The donor card is in my wallet and on the NOTTO website under my Aadhaar."
 +
 +Add at least 2-3 close relatives' phone numbers as next-of-kin on your NOTTO profile. Repeat the conversation once a year — silently update the WhatsApp note in your family group with the pledge number.
 +
 +==== Step 6 — (Optional) Add the pledge to your driving licence and Aadhaar profile ====
 +
 +  * Driving licence: at the time of issue/renewal at the RTO, declare yourself as an organ donor → a small "Organ Donor" mark appears on the back of the licence (in most states using Sarathi 4.0).
 +  * Aadhaar: there is no "donor flag" in Aadhaar yet (as of April 2026), but the NOTTO ABDM linkage means a hospital that pulls your ABHA at admission can see your pledge status in the eKYC view.
 +
 +==== Step 7 — (Separate process) Pledge your **body** for medical research ====
 +
 +Body donation (the whole body for anatomical dissection at a medical college) is **not** done through NOTTO. It is direct with the nearest **government medical college's Anatomy Department** under the relevant state's Anatomy Act (e.g., Maharashtra Anatomy Act 1949).
 +
 +  * Contact the Anatomy Department of any nearby government medical college; request the **body-donation pledge form**.
 +  * Fill in two witnesses + next-of-kin consent.
 +  * Submit one copy to the college, keep two copies at home.
 +  * After your death, family informs the college within 6-12 hours; the college sends a vehicle.
 +  * **Note:** if you have pledged organs to NOTTO **and** body to a medical college, organs are taken first (if eligible at brain-death); body donation only happens for natural deaths or when organs are not retrievable.
 +
 +==== Step 8 — Update or withdraw your pledge any time ====
 +
 +  * Login to notto.abdm.gov.in → "My Profile" → "Edit Pledge".
 +  * You can change the organ/tissue list, change next-of-kin, or **withdraw entirely** — no questions, no paperwork.
 +  * Withdrawal is instant; old card becomes void; system flags the change to ABDM eKYC.
 +
 +===== Sample pledge + cost + organ-list table =====
 +
 +<code>
 ++-----------------------------------+--------------------------------------+
 +| NOTTO online pledge (Form 7)      | FREE. Card downloadable instantly.   |
 ++-----------------------------------+--------------------------------------+
 +| Physical NOTTO donor card by post | FREE. Delivery 3-6 weeks.            |
 ++-----------------------------------+--------------------------------------+
 +| Body donation (medical college)   | FREE. Direct with Anatomy Dept.      |
 ++-----------------------------------+--------------------------------------+
 +| Living-donor kidney/liver         | Patient-side cost only. Donor pays   |
 +| (THOA §9 + Auth Committee clear)  | NIL for surgery in govt hospitals.   |
 ++-----------------------------------+--------------------------------------+
 +| Pledge withdrawal                 | FREE, anytime, online.               |
 ++-----------------------------------+--------------------------------------+
 +| Family override at brain-death    | Family decision is binding under     |
 +|                                   | Form 8 — pledge alone is not enough. |
 ++-----------------------------------+--------------------------------------+
 +| RTI to NOTTO/SOTTO/ROTTO          | ₹10 by IPO. BPL = free.              |
 ++-----------------------------------+--------------------------------------+
 +| Eligible organs (at brain death)  | Kidney(2), liver, heart, lungs(2),   |
 +|                                   | pancreas, intestine                  |
 ++-----------------------------------+--------------------------------------+
 +| Eligible tissues (at any death,   | Corneas, skin, bone, heart valves,   |
 +| within 6-24 hrs)                  | cartilage, tendons, blood vessels    |
 ++-----------------------------------+--------------------------------------+
 +</code>
 +
 +===== Common reasons pledgers get stuck =====
 +
 +  * **Aadhaar e-KYC fails on the portal.** Often a name-mismatch (Aadhaar has middle name; PAN/NOTTO doesn't). Fix in Aadhaar first, then re-try.
 +  * **Donor card download produces a blank PDF.** Browser-cache issue; try a different browser (Edge / Firefox) or clear cookies for notto.abdm.gov.in.
 +  * **Family doesn't know about the pledge.** This is the #1 reason pledged organs never get used. Fix by talking. There is no portal-side fix.
 +  * **Multiple registrations under different mobile numbers.** The system de-duplicates by Aadhaar but if you logged in via mobile-OTP twice with different numbers, you'll see two pledge IDs. Email **info@notto.gov.in** with both pledge numbers + Aadhaar last-4-digits to merge.
 +  * **State portal (SOTTO) and NOTTO numbers differ.** Some older state pledges (Tamil Nadu's TRANSTAN, Andhra's Jeevandan) issue separate registry IDs that haven't fully synced. Both are valid; carry both cards.
 +  * **Hospital staff at brain-death not aware of NOTTO pledge.** They can verify by scanning the card QR or via the hospital's NOTTO/ROTTO desk. Brief your spouse on this — they may be the one who shows the card.
 +  * **Driving licence does not show donor mark** even after you declared at RTO. Common in 2-3 states; the Sarathi backend takes 30-90 days to update. Carry the NOTTO card meanwhile.
 +  * **Concern that hospitals will "let you die" if they know you're a pledger.** Legally impossible — THOA §13 statutorily separates the treating team and the retrieval team. Brain-death is certified independently by 4 doctors over 6 hours.
 +
 +===== If stuck — the escalation ladder =====
 +
 +==== Rung 1 — NOTTO national helpline ====
 +
 +  * Toll-free **1800-11-4770** (24x7).
 +  * Email: **info@notto.gov.in** / **notto.dghs@nic.in**
 +  * Best for: pledge corrections, donor-card download issues, family-counselling requests.
 +
 +==== Rung 2 — Regional Organ & Tissue Transplant Organisation (ROTTO) ====
 +
 +  * Five ROTTOs cover the country: ROTTO North (AIIMS Delhi), ROTTO South (Madras Medical College), ROTTO East (IPGMER Kolkata), ROTTO West (KEM Mumbai), ROTTO North-East (Guwahati Medical College).
 +  * Best for: regional waitlist disputes, hospital-side retrieval issues, retrieval-vehicle coordination.
 +  * Find your ROTTO: https://notto.abdm.gov.in → "Network".
 +
 +==== Rung 3 — State Organ & Tissue Transplant Organisation (SOTTO) ====
 +
 +  * Each state has a SOTTO under the State Health Department.
 +  * Best for: state waitlist transparency, complaints against private hospitals charging undue fees for retrieval, body-donation co-ordination if the medical college is non-responsive.
 +
 +==== Rung 4 — Ministry of Health & Family Welfare ====
 +
 +  * Nirman Bhawan, New Delhi 110011.
 +  * CPGRAMS portal: https://pgportal.gov.in → "Department of Health & Family Welfare".
 +  * Best for: policy violations, large-scale registry irregularities.
 +
 +==== Rung 5 — Right to Information (RTI) ====
 +
 +NOTTO, every ROTTO, every SOTTO, and every government hospital with a transplant programme is a **public authority** under §2(h) of the RTI Act 2005.
 +
 +**RTI helps here when:**
 +
 +  * Your pledge does not show in the registry despite a confirmation email — RTI to PIO NOTTO for "registry status of pledge ID XXXX as on date".
 +  * You want statistics on your district / state's deceased-donor rate, brain-death certifications, and family-consent ratio (to advocate for awareness drives) — RTI to PIO SOTTO.
 +  * You suspect a private hospital ran a transplant without Authorisation Committee clearance — RTI to PIO of the State Appropriate Authority for the AC minutes.
 +  * Family of a deceased donor wants the **end-use anonymous summary** (which 4 patients received the organs, in which states, and outcome at 6 months) — this is shareable in anonymised form by NOTTO; RTI is the formal channel.
 +  * Body-donation pledge form receipt not issued by the medical college — RTI to PIO of the college Anatomy Department.
 +
 +See: [[:rti-for-beginners|RTI in 12 simple steps]].
 +
 +**RTI does NOT help here when:**
 +
 +  * You want to know **who specifically** received your relative's donated organ (recipient identity) — protected medical confidentiality, exempt under §8(1)(j).
 +  * You want to **jump the transplant waitlist** for yourself or a relative — waitlist priority is clinical (urgency, blood group, antigen match) and cannot be moved by RTI or political reference.
 +  * You want to **force** a brain-death declaration (or prevent one). Brain-death is a clinical determination by 4 independent doctors under THOA Schedule I; RTI cannot override.
 +  * You want a hospital to disclose the financial details of a private living-donor transplant of a non-relative — disclosure is restricted; complaint to State Authorisation Committee is the right route.
 +
 +===== FAQs =====
 +
 +**Q. Can I pledge if I have a chronic illness like diabetes or hypertension?**\\
 +Yes. The fitness of each organ at the time of death is a clinical decision; you don't need to "qualify" to pledge. Many people with controlled chronic illness still donate corneas, skin, heart valves and bones successfully.
 +
 +**Q. What is the upper age limit for pledging?**\\
 +There is **no upper age limit** in India. Corneal donation has been done from donors over 90; kidney donation has been done from donors over 70. The retrieval team decides organ-by-organ at the time.
 +
 +**Q. Will donation disfigure my body?**\\
 +No. Retrieval is a surgical procedure done with full dignity — body is restored before handover, and an open-casket funeral or normal antim sanskar is fully possible. Cornea retrieval takes minutes and leaves the eyes looking normal.
 +
 +**Q. My religion forbids organ donation. Is this true?**\\
 +No major Indian religion forbids it. Hindu shastras (Bhagavad Gita 2.22 — body as garment), Islamic fatwas (IIFA 1988 — saving life as the highest duty), Christian church statements, Sikh Rehat Maryada, Jain ahimsa as compassion, Buddhist Bodhisattva teaching — all support voluntary donation. Speak to your religious teacher with the FAQs available on notto.abdm.gov.in.
 +
 +**Q. Can I pledge for a specific person (e.g., my friend who needs a kidney)?**\\
 +Pledging on NOTTO is a **deceased-donor** pledge for the public waitlist — you cannot direct it. For a **living-donor** kidney for a friend (non-relative), THOA §9 requires a separate Authorisation Committee approval to rule out commercial dealing — the process is rigorous and usually takes 4-12 weeks.
 +
 +**Q. What happens to my pledge if I die abroad?**\\
 +The Indian pledge has no force outside India. Most countries (UK, USA, Canada, Australia, Singapore, UAE) have their own donor registries — you'll need to register locally. The card you carry can still inform a foreign hospital of your wish but the consent comes under their law.
 +
 +**Q. My elderly parent wants to pledge but is not internet-savvy. How?**\\
 +Either help them log in with Aadhaar OTP at notto.abdm.gov.in, or print Form 7 from the portal, fill it offline (with two witnesses), and post to: //NOTTO, 4th Floor, Convergence Block, Safdarjung Hospital Campus, New Delhi 110029//. Card is posted back in 3-6 weeks.
 +
 +===== Related on RTI Wiki =====
 +
 +  * [[:rti-for-beginners|RTI in 12 simple steps — for first-time filers]]
 +  * [[:helplines:start|All Indian government helplines — one master directory]]
 +  * [[:apply-blood-donor-card-2026|Voluntary blood donor registration — 2026 guide]]
 +  * [[:apply-niramaya-disability-insurance-2026|Niramaya disability insurance — apply guide]]
 +  * [[:claim-disability-employment-reservation-rpwd-2026|Claim disability employment reservation under RPwD]]
 +  * [[:rti-for-udid-disability-certificate|RTI template for delayed UDID / disability certificate]]
 +
 +//Last reviewed: 26 April 2026 by RTI Wiki editorial team. THOA rules are amended periodically; verify current procedure on notto.abdm.gov.in or write to admin@bighelpers.in if you spot a stale figure.//
 +
 +{{tag>organ-donation notto pledge donor-card thoa-1994 brain-death body-donation rotto sotto abdm transplant-india citizen-guide help-first 2026}}
  
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