Delay In Registering Events Of Birth, Death: RGI Warns Hospitals(image:pixabay.com/TanteTati)
The Registrar General of India’s (RGI) office held that many medical institutions are taking delay in reporting incidents of birth and death within 21 days, posing delay in universal registration. Defying law, several hospitals are waiting for relatives to request for the events or even instructing relatives to report it themselves, according to a report by The Hindu.
According to a circular issued by the RGI’s office in March 17, 2025, even though 90% of birth or death events are getting registered in India and greater progress has been made towards the goal of universal registration, the target of 100% registration of births and deaths is yet to be attained in full capacity.
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The RGI, which comes under the authority of the Union Home Ministry, in the circular said that the primary reason for the non-realisation of the goal of universal registration is “non-reporting of birth and death events by some hospitals, be it private or government.”
Registration of Birth and Death (RBD) Act
The RGI said in a communication to all States that conveyed that as per Section 23(2) of the Registration of Birth and Death (RBD) Act, “negligence by the registrar in registering any birth or death” is punishable with a fine. The Act introduced in 1969 and amended in 2023, directs the registration of all births and deaths on the Centre’s portal from October 1, 2023.
As per the Civil Registration System (CRS), the government hospitals have been assigned with the responsibility of functioning as registrars.
“It has been observed that some of them do not register the events as required under the Act, but wait for the relative of the child or the deceased to approach them and thereafter, they begin the process of registration. Instances have also been reported that some private hospitals don’t report birth and death events to the concerned registrar…,” The Hindu reports as said in the Circular.
It also added that some of the private hospitals refuse the reporting of events and advise the relatives to report it directly to the concerned registrar. The database will be used to update the National Population Register (NPR), ration cards, property registration, and electoral rolls.
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The RGI has also asked the registrars to issue birth and death certificates to citizens within a week. The circular said that another hurdle is that some of the registrars do not take necessary steps for making registration process citizen friendly.”…Some registrars do not enter the events in the online portal and register them in time and keep them pending for several days, causing inconvenience to the general public,” the circular added.
