Death certificate apply online CRS 2026

Last reviewed: 1 September 2026.

A death certificate in India is the signed extract from the registrar of births and deaths, not the hospital slip or the cremation receipt. Report the death within 21 days and the reporting fee is nil. After 21 days the same event is delayed registration under section 13 of the Registration of Births and Deaths Act 1969.

Banks, insurers, pension desks, and mutation offices ask for that registrar extract. Do not stop at the MCCD or the burial receipt.

On this page

• 21-day free vs delayed s.13
• Hospital, home, unnatural
• CRS apply flow
• Documents
• RTI to the registrar
• FAQ

Start with the clock, not the app. The Civil Registration System FAQ and the Registration of Births and Deaths Act 1969, as amended in 2023, treat a report within 21 days of death as ordinary registration.

There is no fee for that ordinary report. After registration is complete, the registrar must give the certificate free of charge, electronically or on paper, not later than 7 days. That 7-day clock sits in section 12 of the amended Act.

After 21 days the file is delayed registration under s.13. The prescribed late fee is set in State Rules. Do not treat a blog rupee figure as national law.

The 2023 amendment replaced the old affidavit-only track for the 30-day-to-one-year window with written permission of the District Registrar (or the authority State Rules name) and a self-attested document. After one year you still need a magistrate-level order.

Illustrative, not a named case: a family that waits six months after a home death is on the delayed s.13 track, not the free 21-day track. Budget extra papers and extra days.

The next question is where the death happened. That decides who reports and which extra paper you collect.

Hospital death. Ask the ward for the Medical Certificate of Cause of Death. That MCCD is the medical form. It is not the death certificate. The hospital should report the event. You still search CRS or the municipal site and collect the signed extract.

Home death. The family, relative, or other informant reports to the Registrar of Births and Deaths at the municipal corporation, municipality, cantonment, or gram panchayat of the place of death. A doctor who attended the person may certify cause of death if the local form asks for it.

Unnatural death. Accident, suicide, homicide, or any death that police take up needs police papers before the registrar will finish the entry. Do not invent a national day count. These files can take longer because the registrar waits for the inquest or post-mortem papers.

Registration follows place of death, not the hometown you will use for property. After you have the extract, take a copy to the home district for property mutation and succession work.

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

• CRS citizen portal: dc.crsorgi.gov.in (information host crsorgi.gov.in). Citizen login is open for States and UTs listed on that home page. If your state is not listed, use the local body.
• Municipal corporation, municipality, cantonment, or panchayat: the Registrar of Births and Deaths at the place of death. 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 window.

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

Death certificate apply online, ordinary case

1. Ask the hospital whether they have already reported the death, 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 death.
3. Create a citizen login if the portal requires one. Use a mobile number the family will keep.
4. File the death report if no event exists: deceased name, date and place of death, informant details, and cause of death as on the MCCD.
5. Upload the proofs that screen lists. Hospital deaths usually need the MCCD. Home deaths need the local identity and death proofs. Unnatural deaths need the police papers the registrar names.
6. Pay only if the portal shows a delayed-registration or extra-copy fee set by that state.
7. Download the digitally signed certificate, or collect the paper extract from the registrar.

Ordinary reports within 21 days are the ones most likely to finish on CRS. Delayed s.13 files are often completed at the registrar counter. Follow what your municipal or e-District screen asks.

Once the registrar has registered the event, the certificate is due free of charge within 7 days. A digitally signed CRS or municipal extract is the legal document. Reprint if you lose the file. Keep a paper copy if a bank still wants a wet stamp.

The same Civil Registration System also issues birth extracts. Sibling walkthrough: how to apply for a birth certificate. Status of an already-filed birth file: birth certificate status check 2026.

Typical papers. Always confirm on the local form.

• MCCD from the hospital, for a facility death
• Applicant photo ID (Aadhaar or other accepted ID)
• Proof of relationship to the deceased, if the office asks
• Cremation, burial, or funeral receipt, if listed locally
• Address proof for the place of death, if asked
• Police FIR, inquest, or post-mortem papers, for unnatural death
• Self-attested declaration and District Registrar permission, for delayed s.13(2)
• Magistrate-level order, for delayed s.13(3) after one year

For later Aadhaar deactivation or family KYC, keep the extract with the spelling that matches the deceased Aadhaar record. A mismatch here stalls pension and bank closure.

• Stopping at the hospital MCCD and discovering at the insurance desk that no registrar extract exists.
• Applying in the city you live in now, when the death was in another district. Registration follows place of death.
• Creating a second CRS login and a second event because the hospital report is slow to appear.
• Treating a private site that copies the CRS logo as the government portal.
• Inventing a cause of death to skip police papers on an unnatural case. The registrar will not finish that file without the police record.
• Paying an agent a tatkaal package. There is no Union tatkaal death-certificate fee we can quote for every city.
• Using a blog rupee ladder for delayed registration. Fees sit in State Rules.

If the extract is stuck, file RTI under RTI Act 2005 s.6(1) to the Public Information Officer of the Registrar of Births and Deaths in the municipal corporation, municipality, cantonment, or gram panchayat of the place of death. In a large corporation that PIO often sits in the health or vital-statistics wing.

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.

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

1. Status of death registration / certificate application number dated for deceased , date of death .
2. Whether the hospital, informant, or police 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 death report, MCCD, notings, and any objection or delay memo.
5. If delayed registration under s.13 was invoked, the extra document still pending and the date the digitally signed certificate will be available.

If the hospital lost the indoor record, a separate RTI to the hospital PIO for the death register extract often unblocks the registrar. Do not ask an RTI PIO to issue the certificate as a favour. Ask for the file status, the missing paper, and the rule cited.

A death extract is also what a surviving spouse needs before some passport name or status updates. Keep extra signed copies when you first collect it.

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 death report yourself on that official portal or at the registrar counter. Delayed s.13 files may still need a counter visit.

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. The municipal registrar remains the legal issuing office.

Any report after 21 days is delayed registration under section 13. Within 30 days: prescribed late fee. After 30 days and within one year: District Registrar permission plus self-attested papers and the prescribed fee. After one year: DM, SDM, or authorised Executive Magistrate order plus the prescribed fee. Confirm the exact papers with the local registrar.

MCCD is the Medical Certificate of Cause of Death, usually issued by the hospital. It supports registration. It is not the legal death certificate. The legal document is the registrar extract, including a digitally signed CRS or municipal copy.

Yes, as delayed registration under s.13(3). You will need the magistrate-level order that State Rules require, plus proof of the death and of why the report is late. Do not rely on a national rupee chart copied from a blog.

At the place of death. Then take a copy to the home state for property succession and mutation. Do not open a second registration in the hometown.

File RTI to the hospital PIO for the death-register extract. Take that extract plus the cremation or burial receipt to the registrar. Ask the registrar which delayed or missing-MCCD form that district uses.

Take as many signed extracts as the registrar will issue on the first visit. Insurers, banks, pension, and mutation desks often want their own copy. The e-certificate is legally original. Reprint from CRS or the municipal site if you lose the file.

• CRS citizen portal (dc.crsorgi.gov.in)
• Civil Registration System (crsorgi.gov.in)
• Registration of Births and Deaths Act 1969, as amended 2023, s.12 and s.13
• RTI fees by state
• RTI Act 2005, s.6(1), s.7(1), s.19(1)

Reviewed for RTI Wiki by Dr. Shrawan Kumar Pathak.