South Delhi residents can soon generate birth, death certificates online free of cost

South Delhi residents will soon be able to generate birth and death certificates free of cost online as the standing committee of the local municipal corporation on Tuesday gave its nod to the proposal, an official statement said.

At present only first copy of a certificate is issued free of cost at the doorstep, Bhupender Gupta, chairman of South Delhi Municipal Corporation's (SDMC) Standing Committee said in a statement.

"It has now been decided to waive this fee to generate birth or death certificates online," the statement quoted Gupta as saying.

At present, the facility is provided online or through Citizen Service Bureaus (CSB) at zonal offices. The first copy of birth and death certificates is issued free of cost. However, the second and subsequent copies are provided at a nominal fee of Rs 21 and 11, respectively.

It is being observed that people are interested in generating certificates online, the SDMC said.

In 2019, CSB issued 1,45,862 birth certificates and 24,761 death certificates, whereas, 62,814 birth certificates and 15,800 death certificates have been generated online, it said.

So to encourage citizens to use the online mode for generating birth or death certificates, it has been decided to do away with any fees for generating these, it added.

However, the fees will continue to be levied on generation of certificates through CBS, the statement said.

Gupta said the online facility for any additions and correction in name would also be made available soon through modification in the software.

A form will also be put on the website for this purpose. Once implemented, the citizens can generate death or birth certificates online the same day, he said.