How to Change Name Legally in Delhi
Every other guide on this site tells readers that posting the file carries no disadvantage, and everywhere else that is true. Delhi is the exception. The Department of Publication is at Civil Lines, behind the Vidhan Sabha Metro station, and if you live here you can hand your file over a counter and know it arrived. That is a real advantage, and almost nobody tells you about it.
How does a name change in Delhi actually work?
The written answer is directly below, in about sixty words. If you would rather see the whole thing explained once before reading, start here.
Name Change Procedure in Delhi दिल्ली में नाम बदलने की प्रक्रिया
Make a notarised affidavit, publish the change in two newspapers, one Hindi and one English, then submit the prescribed file to the Department of Publication at Civil Lines, Delhi 110054, with the fee paid through BharatKosh. Your notification appears in Part IV of the Gazette of India in about 30 to 45 days, and you download it from egazette.gov.in. You can submit in person or by post; in Delhi, in person is worth the trip.
What does changing your name legally in Delhi involve?
Three ordinary stages, one advantage nobody else in India has, and a search page full of wrong numbers.
At a glance
- Stages: notarised affidavit, then two newspaper notices, then the file to the Department of Publication.
- Where it goes: Civil Lines, behind the Delhi Vidhan Sabha Metro station, Delhi 110054.
- The Delhi advantage: you may submit in person, which removes the risk of a file going astray unseen.
- But not from an agent. Applications are accepted from the applicant directly, so it is a trip you make yourself.
- Fee: commonly Rs 1,100 adult, Rs 1,700 minor, Rs 3,500 from abroad, on bharatkosh.gov.in only and revised each financial year.
- Timeline: about 30 to 45 days after submission. Going in person does not make it faster.
- Birth certificates: three different bodies register births here, and the certificate names which one.
Key takeaways
- The Department of Publication is at Civil Lines, behind the Delhi Vidhan Sabha Metro station, Delhi 110054. It is a subordinate office of the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, headed by the Controller of Publications.
- Delhi residents can submit in person, which removes the risk of a file going astray in the post or arriving incomplete with no way to know.
- Applications are accepted from the applicant directly, not from agents. A service can prepare and check the file, but you hand it in or post it.
- The Government fee is commonly Rs 1,100 adult, Rs 1,700 minor and Rs 3,500 from abroad, paid only through bharatkosh.gov.in.
- Demand drafts are not accepted and no CD is required. Pages telling you to prepare either are years out of date, including some still live.
- Anyone quoting the gazette fee as Rs 520 or Rs 523 is wrong, and one page manages both figures in the same article.
- The same Department publishes both the Gazette of India and the Delhi Gazette, which is why the address on this page serves two different purposes.
- Birth certificates in Delhi come from three different bodies. Which one issued yours decides where a correction goes.
- Going in person does not speed up publication. What it buys is certainty about delivery.
- A birth certificate mistake is a Registrar correction under Section 15 of the RBD Act, 1969, not a gazette matter.
Where exactly is the gazette office in Delhi?
Worth setting out precisely, because the search results for this question are unusually poor.
The Department of Publication describes itself in its own words as being at “Civil Lines, behind Delhi Vidhan Sabha Metro Station, Delhi- 110054” and as a “subordinate office of Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, Government of India”. It is “headed by the Controller of Publications and is assisted by Assistant Controller (Admn.), Assistant Controller (Business) & Financial Officer.” The address, the change of name telephone numbers and the counter extensions are set out in full on our gazette office in Delhi page.
The office itself, on video
Unusually for this series, a recording titled “Gazette Office in Delhi” is accurate. In most cities that phrase describes something that does not exist. Here the office is real, it is at Civil Lines, and it is behind a Metro station.
Still check the address against the Department's own site before you travel. One well-ranked page headed as the gazette office address in Delhi gives an address in Ghatkopar West, Mumbai. The correct one is Civil Lines, Delhi 110054, and the office keeps its own working days and timings.
Gazette Office in Delhi, and its address
Does the same office publish the Delhi Gazette too?
Yes, and it is worth knowing because it explains why one address serves two purposes. The Department's own material refers to the rates of publication of advertisement notices in the Gazette of India and the Delhi Gazette. So the same Civil Lines office sits behind both the national journal and the Delhi one.
For a personal name change, Part IV of the Gazette of India is what you want, because it is recognised in every state and abroad. But if somebody mentions the Delhi Gazette to you, they are not inventing it, and knowing that both come from the same place saves an argument.
Why is walking it in worth your morning?
Here is the argument, and we would rather make it honestly than sell you a courier.
On this route, the single most common way an application fails is not a wrong decision. It is a file that is incomplete, or that has a mismatch between the affidavit, the newspaper notices and the proforma, or that simply does not arrive intact.
Outside Delhi, you post it and wait. If something is wrong, you find out weeks later when it comes back, with a non-refundable fee already gone. That waiting, blind, is the part everybody finds hardest.
Two things to be clear about, so the trip is not wasted
You have to go yourself
Applications are accepted from the applicant directly, not from agents. Nobody can do this for you, whatever they charge. A service may prepare and check the file; you submit it.
It does not make publication faster
Part IV runs on its own schedule and there is no counter that will move you up it. What the visit buys is certainty about delivery, not speed. Anybody promising otherwise is describing their own turnaround.
What should you take with you?
Take the complete file, a spare set of photocopies, your own identity proof, and the BharatKosh payment receipt. And check the office's working days and timings before you set out, since Government offices keep their own calendar and a wasted trip is worse than a posted envelope.
Which numbers and addresses will you see that are wrong?
The Delhi search results for this are unusually poor. It is worth arming yourself before you speak to anybody.
Rs 520 and Rs 523
One well-ranked page gives the official gazette charge as Rs 520.00 in one paragraph, then instructs the reader to pay the Rs 523.00 fee online further down the same page. Two different figures in one article, and neither matches the Central fee, which is commonly Rs 1,100.
A figure close to that does appear as a state gazette fee elsewhere in India, which suggests another state's number has been pasted onto a Delhi page.
A Mumbai address, under a Delhi heading
Another page is headed as the gazette office address in Delhi and gives an address in Ghatkopar West, Mumbai, complete with two different sets of opening hours on the same page.
The real address is Civil Lines, Delhi 110054, set out with the Department's own wording on our gazette office in Delhi page. If a page cannot get the city right, do not take its fee, its timeline or its document list either.
Bangalore testimonials
A third site's Delhi page carries customer testimonials praising an advertising company in Bangalore. Read the reviews on any page you are about to trust and check they are about the city you are actually in.
Rs 999 all-inclusive packages
The Government fee alone is commonly Rs 1,100, so an all-inclusive Rs 999 cannot include it. Ask what is actually covered, and what is billed separately afterwards.
About to pay somebody Rs 520 for a Rs 1,100 fee?
Send us your documents on WhatsApp before you do. In one call we will tell you what the Government fee actually is, which written form of your name should stand when a home-state certificate and your Delhi papers disagree, and whether a Registrar correction would have solved it instead. Then we prepare and check the file, and you walk it in yourself, because the rules allow nobody else to. Monday to Saturday, 9 AM to 6 PM.
Was this city's own name changed by a gazette notification?
It was, and it is a tidy demonstration of what you are about to do.
The Constitution (Sixty-ninth Amendment) Act, 1991 gave Delhi the status and the name of the National Capital Territory of Delhi. But the amendment did not make it so by itself. The companion legislation, the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi Act, 1991, dated 2 January 1992, provided in its own commencement clause that “It shall come into force on such date as the Central Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, appoint.”
And how many notifications did that take?
Four, spread across nearly two years. The first brought parts of the Act into force on 1 February 1992. Further notifications followed on 2 October 1993, 25 November 1993 and 29 November 1993, each covering different sections, all published in the Gazette of India, Extraordinary, Part II, Section 3(ii).
There is one more thing worth noticing. Those notifications were published by the same Department, at the same Civil Lines address, that you are about to hand your file to. The instrument that renamed this city and the instrument that will rename you come off the same press.
What is the step by step name change procedure in Delhi?
Five stages, and one of them has a Delhi-specific trap in it.
Settle the exact name, then the affidavit
Decide the exact spelling and spacing before anything is typed, because everything after copies from the affidavit. Lay out your documents, note how the name appears on each, and choose the version carried by whichever is hardest to change.
Then get an affidavit drafted on non-judicial stamp paper stating your old name, your new name, your father's or husband's name, your full address and a clear reason, and sign it before a notary. Stamp paper and notary together usually cost Rs 100 to Rs 500.
The Delhi-specific point in step one
This city holds people from every state, and a great many residents carry a board certificate issued elsewhere.
Decide against that certificate, not against your Delhi-era documents, because it is almost always the hardest one to change. Getting this backwards is the commonest expensive mistake made here, and it is invisible until the board refuses.
Publish two newspaper notices
Publish the same notice in two dailies that genuinely circulate here, one Hindi and one English. Rates vary a great deal in Delhi, so compare quotes rather than accepting the first agent.
The notice must carry your old name, new name, full address, age, parentage and the affidavit date, worded exactly as the affidavit reads. Keep the complete original printed page of each, not a cutting, with the date visible.
Prepare the file
For the Department of Publication: the original newspaper pages, the notice for Part IV showing parentage and residential address, a signed undertaking, two copies of the prescribed proforma computer typed and attested with two witnesses' details, the print matter without the witness portion in MS Word, a certificate that hard and soft copies match, self-attested identity proof of applicant and each witness, two photographs, and a request letter to the Controller of Publications.
Pay through BharatKosh only
Pay only through bharatkosh.gov.in, commonly Rs 1,100 for an adult, Rs 1,700 for a minor and Rs 3,500 for Indians abroad, revised each financial year, so confirm on deptpub.gov.in before paying.
The fee is non-refundable. Keep the receipt and take it with you if you are going in person.
Submit, then download
Submit at Civil Lines in person, or send by post or courier if that suits you better. Publication follows in Part IV about 30 to 45 days later.
Hard copies ceased on 1 October 2015, so you open the relevant issue on egazette.gov.in, use Control and F to find your name, and download the whole gazette. It needs no certification, and nobody should charge you to fetch a public record.
Preparing the notification, walked through
The steps above are the sequence. The recording below walks through the same thing as a single continuous job, which helps if you are about to sit down and actually do it.
Two things it cannot check for you. Whether your affidavit, both notices and the proforma say exactly the same thing, and whether you have decided your name against the right document when a home-state certificate is in play. Those two are the whole job.
How to Make Gazette Notification in Delhi दिल्ली में गजट नोटिफिकेशन कैसे बनवाएं
What documents are required for a name change in Delhi?
This is the Department of Publication's own list, and it is the same whether you post it or carry it.
The newspaper proof
The original newspaper pages carrying your notices, one Hindi and one English. Complete pages, not cuttings, with the date visible.
The notice for Part IV
The notice for the Gazette of India Part IV, showing your parentage and residential address, forwarded in original.
The undertaking
An undertaking signed by you showing your old and new name with full parentage and address, declaring that the facts stated are true.
The proforma, in duplicate
Two copies of the prescribed proforma, computer typed and not handwritten, signed and attested, with two witnesses' details.
The soft copy
The print matter without the witness portion, in MS Word, as a soft copy. No CD is required.
The matching certificate
A certificate signed by you declaring that the contents of the hard copy and the soft copy are the same.
Identity proofs and photographs
Self-attested identity proof of the applicant and of each witness, plus two passport size photographs.
The request letter
A request letter addressed to the Controller of Publications, Department of Publication, Civil Lines, Delhi 110054, listing what the envelope contains.
What changes if you are a minor, abroad, or in Government service?
A minor
A parent or legal guardian swears the affidavit and applies, attaching the child's birth certificate. The minor fee applies, and both parents signing avoids objections later.
An applicant abroad
The deed is attested by the Indian Embassy or High Commission, and the fee head is the one for Indians abroad. Budget for attestation and courier separately.
A Government employee
A deed executed and routed through the department, under the 1987 Home Ministry memorandum, so the service book is updated alongside the gazette. Delhi has the highest concentration of these applicants in the country.
What does a name change cost in Delhi?
Honest ranges, and the figures that circulate about this city which are simply wrong.
| Expense | Typical amount | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Stamp paper and notary | Rs 100 to Rs 500 | Widely available. Rates vary by area |
| Two newspaper notices | Rs 800 to Rs 4,000 | One Hindi and one English. Compare quotes carefully in Delhi |
| Central Gazette, adult in India | Commonly Rs 1,100 | BharatKosh only, revised each financial year |
| Central Gazette, minor | Commonly Rs 1,700 | BharatKosh only |
| Central Gazette, Indians abroad | Commonly Rs 3,500 | Plus embassy attestation and courier, budgeted separately |
| Travel to Civil Lines | Metro fare | Behind the Delhi Vidhan Sabha station. Optional, but worth it |
| Realistic self-done total | Rs 2,000 to Rs 6,000 | Gazette stages only |
So is the fee Rs 520, Rs 523, Rs 999 or Rs 1,100?
Rs 1,100 for an adult, commonly, and revised each financial year. The other three figures all circulate on pages that rank for this search, and all three are wrong. Rs 520 and Rs 523 appear on the same page as each other, which should be enough on its own. Rs 999 is a package price that cannot include a Rs 1,100 Government fee.
What is the Rs 250 per alias charge you may have read about?
It is a misreading that has spread across a great many guides. The additional charge relates to a change of religion case, not to each additional alias name. Since the schedule is revised each financial year in any event, read the current rate on deptpub.gov.in before you pay, rather than trusting any figure a guide prints, including ours.
How long does a name change take in Delhi?
Plan for 3 to 6 weeks. Going in person shortens one stage and not the others.
Affidavit and notary
Usually the same day. Have the exact form of your name settled before you arrive.
Newspaper publication
2 to 7 days, depending on the booking schedule of the papers you choose.
File preparation
1 to 3 days, mostly spent on the proforma and the matching soft copy.
Submission
Same day if you go in person. This is the one stage a Delhi resident can compress to nothing.
Publication in Part IV
30 to 45 days after submission. Identical for every applicant in India, in person or by post.
Board correction afterwards
That institution's own timeline, and longer again if the board is in another state. Budget for it separately.
Which special situations come up most often here?
My board certificate is from another state. What then?
Delhi draws people from everywhere, and the underlying mismatch is very often inherited: a board certificate issued elsewhere written one way, and everything obtained here written another.
Decide your name against that certificate, since it is usually the hardest to change. Then use the Central Gazette, which is valid in every state and supports a correction application to that home board, which runs its own process on its own timeline. Ask the board what it accepts before choosing, and start as soon as the gazette publishes.
School records and board certificates are two different jobs
People use the phrases interchangeably and then write to the wrong office. Your school record is what the school itself holds. Your board certificate, for Class 10, Class 12 or a degree, is issued by the board or university, and the school cannot change it.
In Delhi this matters more than elsewhere, because so many residents hold a board certificate from another state. Start the board application first, since it is the slowest item, and let the school record follow.
Name Change in Education Documents in Delhi
How to Name Change in School Record in Delhi दिल्ली में स्कूल रिकॉर्ड में नाम कैसे बदलें
What should a passport or visa applicant decide first?
Decide what goes in the given name field and what in the surname field before the passport is issued or re-issued, because that split follows you onto every visa afterwards. Sequence it as gazette, then Aadhaar, then PAN and bank, then the passport, then anything overseas.
The passport re-issue, walked through
Watch this before the affidavit is drafted rather than after. The decision that matters is what goes in the given name field and what in the surname field, because that split follows you onto every visa issued against the passport afterwards.
How to Name Change in Passport in Delhi पासपोर्ट में नाम कैसे बदलें
What extra does a Central Government employee need to do?
Delhi has the country's highest concentration of them, and the gazette is only half the job. Follow the Ministry of Home Affairs O.M. No. 190016/1/87-Estt.(A) dated 12 March 1987: a deed executed and routed through the department, so the service book is updated alongside the gazette.
A service record that does not match causes no difficulty at all until promotion or pension stage, by which time it is far harder to fix. Run them together, and keep the departmental acknowledgement with your gazette copy.
What if you are only changing your surname?
A surname-only change runs through exactly the same three stages. There is no shorter route and no separate form. What differs is what people get wrong.
The affidavit and both notices must carry your full old name and full new name, not just the surname being added, dropped or replaced. Writing only the surname leaves a reader unable to match the two people, and that is a returned file. Decide too whether the surname is being added, replaced or removed entirely, because banks and passport offices match on the surname field more strictly than on anything else.
A surname change, walked through
Watch it with the paragraph above in mind. The stages are the same as any name change, and the thing to get right is that the affidavit and both notices carry your full old name and full new name, not just the surname you are adding, dropping or replacing.
Surname Change Process in Delhi सरनेम कैसे चेंज करें
Do you need a gazette to change your name after marriage?
The same three stages apply, with the marriage certificate attached. And a point worth saying plainly: if you keep using your existing name and nothing on paper changes, you do not need a gazette at all.
Taking a husband's name, walked through
And the point worth repeating before you watch: you are not obliged to do any of this. If you keep using your existing name and nothing on paper changes, you do not need a gazette at all, and nobody may require you to have one.
How to Name Change After Marriage in Delhi शादी के बाद अपना नाम कैसे बदलें
How do you go back to your maiden name after a divorce?
The same three stages again, with the decree attached as the reason. And the point that catches people: no separate court order is needed for the name itself. A decree dissolves the marriage; it does not, on its own, change what your documents say.
So resuming an earlier name is a change of name like any other. And if you are content to keep the married name, you need nothing at all, and nobody may require you to change it.
How does a parent change a child's name?
A parent or legal guardian applies on the child's behalf, swearing the affidavit and attaching the child's birth certificate. The minor fee applies, commonly Rs 1,700 with the usual revision caveat, and both parents signing avoids objections later. No personal appearance by the child is required anywhere, whatever an older page says about visiting an office with a child.
Which areas across Delhi do we serve?
The whole NCT, and the office at Civil Lines is reachable from all of it by Metro.
Central and old Delhi
Civil Lines, Kashmere Gate, Chandni Chowk, Karol Bagh and Paharganj.
South Delhi
Connaught Place, Lodhi Road, Lajpat Nagar, Defence Colony and Greater Kailash.
West Delhi
Dwarka, Janakpuri, Rajouri Garden, Uttam Nagar and Najafgarh.
North and north west
Rohini, Pitampura, Shalimar Bagh, Model Town and Burari.
East Delhi
Shahdara, Laxmi Nagar, Mayur Vihar, Preet Vihar and Dilshad Garden.
South west and cantonment
Saket, Vasant Kunj, Mehrauli, Delhi Cantonment and the NDMC area.
Our own desk is at Burari, Delhi, which is a few Metro stops from Civil Lines. Call 9540005002, WhatsApp 9540005064, or write to support@documentadvisor.in, Monday to Saturday, 9 AM to 6 PM. For the all-India process, see our main guide at documentadvisor.in. The same route stated as a checklist is on our name change procedure in Delhi page.
What do the terms in this process actually mean?
Each definition stands on its own, so you can read just the one you need.
- Gazette of India
- The official journal of the Union Government, published by the Department of Publication at Civil Lines. A change of name notification printed here is recognised by every institution in the country and accepted abroad, which is why it is the route for a passport or a visa.
- Part IV
- The part of the Gazette of India in which private individuals' notices, including change of name, appear. It is Central numbering, so a Part IV reference attached to any state gazette is a copied error.
- Delhi Gazette
- The official journal for Delhi, whose advertisement rates the Department of Publication publishes alongside those for the Gazette of India. For a personal name change the Gazette of India is what you want, because it carries weight outside Delhi as well as within it.
- Department of Publication
- The office at Civil Lines, behind the Delhi Vidhan Sabha Metro station, Delhi 110054, a subordinate office of the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs. It receives change of name files from anywhere in India or abroad, and from Delhi residents in person.
- Controller of Publications
- The officer heading the Department of Publication, assisted by an Assistant Controller (Administration), an Assistant Controller (Business) and a Financial Officer. The request letter accompanying a change of name file is addressed to the Controller.
- Proforma
- The prescribed form for a change of name notice, submitted in duplicate, computer typed rather than handwritten, signed and attested, and carrying the details of two witnesses.
- Affidavit
- A sworn statement on non-judicial stamp paper giving your old name, new name, parentage, address and the reason for the change, signed before a notary. It is sworn by you alone; the two witnesses belong on the proforma.
- BharatKosh
- The Government of India's Non-Tax Receipt Portal at bharatkosh.gov.in, and the only accepted way to pay the gazette fee. Demand drafts are not accepted and the fee is non-refundable. Keep the receipt and carry it if you submit in person.
- Registrar correction
- A correction to a birth or death entry made by the registering authority under Section 15 of the Registration of Births and Deaths Act, 1969. In Delhi that authority is whichever of three bodies issued the certificate, and the certificate names it.
- Municipal Corporation of Delhi
- The civic body covering most of the city, and the registering authority for births and deaths across that area. A correction to a certificate it issued is made by it, not by a gazette.
- New Delhi Municipal Council
- The civic body for the NDMC area of central New Delhi, and the registering authority for births and deaths within it. Certificates issued here name the Council.
- Service book
- The official record of a Government employee's service. A name change must be routed through the department under the 1987 Home Ministry memorandum so the service book and the gazette agree, which matters most at promotion and pension stage.
What do you update after the gazette, and in what order?
The notification is the middle of the journey. Each office asks for the one before it.
| Order | Record | Why here |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Aadhaar, at an enrolment centre with the gazette PDF and identity proof | Almost everything downstream verifies against it |
| 2 | PAN card | Banks and employers check PAN against Aadhaar |
| 3 | Bank accounts and any demat or investment accounts | Needed before salary, EPFO and insurance records will follow |
| 4 | Passport, as a re-issue, with the name fields filled as you decided | Every visa afterwards copies from it |
| 5 | Voter ID and driving licence | Both accept the gazette with the updated Aadhaar |
| 6 | EPFO or UAN, insurance policies and service records | These verify against PAN and bank details already updated |
| 7 | Board and university records, including any in another state | Each runs its own process and is usually the slowest item |
| 8 | Employer, property, society and overseas records against the new passport | Held in separate systems that do not update each other |
Aadhaar and PAN, the first two on the list
Aadhaar is number one for a reason: almost every record below it verifies against Aadhaar, so doing it out of order usually means doing something twice. PAN comes second, because banks and employers check PAN against Aadhaar.
How to Name Change in Aadhaar Card in Delhi
How to Name Change in Pan Card in Delhi पैन कार्ड में नाम कैसे बदलें
Then the bank, and the signature specimen with it
The bank comes after Aadhaar and PAN, because it verifies against both. And do not forget the signature specimen if the name inside it has changed, along with any demat or investment accounts, which are often held separately from the savings account.
How to Name Change in Bank Account in Delhi बैंक खाते में नाम कैसे बदलें
Which body corrects a birth certificate in Delhi?
If your problem is an error on a birth certificate rather than a name you want to change going forward, this is a correction and not a gazette matter. In Delhi it depends which body registered the birth.
| Body | Covers |
|---|---|
| Municipal Corporation of Delhi | Most of the city |
| New Delhi Municipal Council | The NDMC area |
| Delhi Cantonment Board | Delhi Cantonment |
Check the certificate itself, because it names the issuing body. That is where the correction application goes, under Section 15 of the Registration of Births and Deaths Act, 1969. The Civil Registration System portal is crsorgi.gov.in. For a plain clerical error this is usually the whole answer and much the cheapest one, so try it before assuming you need a gazette.
And if the birth was registered outside Delhi, which is true of a great many residents, it goes to that body wherever it is, usually by post.
The birth certificate route, walked through
Watch this one with the table above in mind, because which of the three bodies issued your certificate decides where the application goes. The certificate names it, so check the certificate before you go anywhere.
And a note on any price you hear in this one. A Registrar correction under Section 15 is a different thing from a gazette, and it is genuinely much the cheaper of the two. So a service price quoted for a birth certificate correction is not the Central gazette fee and does not contradict the Rs 1,100 figure on this page. They are two different applications to two different offices.
Name Correction in Birth Certificate in Delhi
When is it a gazette matter after all?
When you are changing the name rather than correcting the record. If the certificate correctly records the name you were given and you now wish to be known by a different one, that is a change of name and the gazette route applies. The test is simple: was the entry wrong when it was made, or is it right but no longer what you use?
What are the common mistakes in a Delhi name change?
Almost every one of these costs weeks or money, and almost every one is free to avoid.
Preparing a demand draft because a page said so
Payment is only through BharatKosh. The draft route is closed, and pages still describing it are years out of date.
Burning a CD with the soft copy
No CD is required. The soft copy is submitted as an MS Word file, and has been for years.
Believing a quoted fee of Rs 520 or Rs 523
Or an all-inclusive Rs 999. The Government fee alone is commonly Rs 1,100, and one page prints both of the first two figures.
Following a page headed as a Delhi gazette address
That gives a Mumbai one, in Ghatkopar West, with two different sets of opening hours. The real address is Civil Lines.
Sending an agent to submit the file
Applications are accepted from the applicant directly. An agent will not be able to hand it in, whatever you have paid.
Expecting a personal visit to speed up publication
It does not. Part IV runs on its own schedule. The visit buys certainty about delivery, nothing more.
Deciding your name against Delhi-era documents
When a board certificate from another state is the hardest one to change. Decide against that one instead.
Using a gazette for a birth certificate clerical error
A Registrar correction under Section 15 was the answer, at whichever of the three bodies issued it, and it costs a fraction as much.
Should you do it yourself or take professional help?
Delhi residents are better placed to do this alone than anybody else in India.
The office is in town and you can hand the file over yourself. We would rather say so than pretend otherwise. If your documents agree with each other and no passport or out-of-state board is involved, this guide has everything you need.
Where help actually earns its fee here
The decision. Choosing which version of your name should stand when a home-state certificate and your Delhi documents disagree, and settling the passport field split, are judgements with permanent consequences.
And the check. Having the file read through before it is submitted is worth real money, because the fee is not refundable and a returned file costs a month.
What a service can and cannot do
Applications are accepted from the applicant directly, so an honest service prepares and checks your file while you sign and submit it yourself. Nobody can walk it in for you, and anybody who says they will is describing something the rules do not permit.
And an honest service will tell you plainly when a Registrar correction was the whole answer, and when you do not need a gazette at all. That is how Documentadvisor works.
What to ask before you hire anybody
If you do decide to use a service, take three questions into that conversation, whoever you are speaking to.
What is the Government fee? Where exactly is the file submitted? And what happens if it is returned? The honest answers are: commonly Rs 1,100 for an adult and separate unless stated, Civil Lines, Delhi 110054, and a returned file means starting again with the fee gone. A quoted fee under a thousand rupees, or an address that is not Civil Lines, answers the question for you.
Name Change Agent in Delhi दिल्ली में नेम चेंज एजेंट
Your Trust and Security First
Your documents stay private
Papers are handled by our own desk in Burari, Delhi, used for your file and nothing else.
We give you the real address
Civil Lines, behind the Vidhan Sabha Metro station. Not Ghatkopar, not a page that cannot tell you which city it means.
We settle which version stands
One form of your name, chosen from the record hardest to change, and the passport field split decided before it locks in.
We tell you when you do not need us
If a Registrar correction at the body that issued your birth certificate solves it, we say so. That costs a fraction of a gazette.
We sequence the board correction
An application to your home-state board starts after publication and runs on that board timeline. We plan for both.
We say when we do not know
We print no state fee or turnaround we could not verify. We tell you to read it on the portal at the application stage.
Everything You Need, In One Place
File checking before you submit
The proforma, the soft copy, the witness proofs and the matching certificate, read against the Department own list, so it is accepted the first time.
Settling which version stands
One version of your name, chosen from whichever record is hardest to change, and the passport field split decided before it is re-issued.
Name change and gazette filing
Drafting the affidavit, wording and booking the Hindi and English notices, and preparing the application on whichever route your case belongs to.
File checking before dispatch
The proforma, the soft copy, the witness proofs and the matching certificate, checked against the Department's own list so the file is accepted the first time.
Out-of-state board corrections
Sequencing the gazette first, then the application to whichever board issued your certificate, on that board own timeline.
Birth certificate corrections
Registrar corrections under Section 15 through the Municipal Corporation of Delhi, the New Delhi Municipal Council, the Cantonment Board, or a body outside Delhi.
How It Works
Book
Call or WhatsApp us with photographs of every document carrying your name, and tell us whether a passport is in view, whether a board certificate from another state is involved, and whether the problem is actually a birth certificate.
Schedule
We tell you which written form of your name should stand, how the passport fields should be split, what the Government fee actually is, and whether a Registrar correction would have solved it for far less.
Relax
We draft, word the notices and check the file. You sign and submit it yourself at Civil Lines, or post it, because the Department allows nobody else to. Then we sequence the update list with you.
The questions Delhi applicants search for most
Where is the gazette office in Delhi?
The Department of Publication, Civil Lines, behind the Delhi Vidhan Sabha Metro station, Delhi 110054. It is a subordinate office of the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, headed by the Controller of Publications.
Can I submit the file in person?
Yes, and in Delhi it is worth doing. Applications are accepted from the applicant directly, so you go yourself; an agent cannot submit for you.
Does going in person make it faster?
No. Publication follows the Part IV schedule regardless. What a personal visit buys is certainty that the file arrived complete, which is worth more than it sounds.
Is the gazette fee Rs 520 or Rs 523?
Neither. The Central fee is commonly Rs 1,100 for an adult, paid on BharatKosh. One well-ranked page manages to give both of those figures on the same page, which is reason enough to distrust the rest of it.
Do I need a demand draft or a CD?
No to both. Payment is only through BharatKosh, and the soft copy is a file rather than a disc. Pages describing either are years out of date.
Where do I correct a birth certificate in Delhi?
At the body that registered it: the Municipal Corporation of Delhi for most of the city, the New Delhi Municipal Council for the NDMC area, or the Delhi Cantonment Board. The certificate names the issuing body.
Book your name change
Talk to the desk
Phone: 9540005002
WhatsApp: 9540005064
Email: support@documentadvisor.in
Hours: Monday to Saturday, 9 AM to 6 PM
Office: Near Hanuman Mandir, Metro Pillar No. 376, Near Burari Metro Station, Shop No. 2nd Ground Floor, Gali No. 1, Plot No. 31/12, Hardev Nagar, Jharoda Majra, Burari, Delhi 110084
Frequently asked questions on changing your name in Delhi
What is the one advantage Delhi residents have?
The Department of Publication is in town, at Civil Lines behind the Vidhan Sabha Metro station. You can hand the file over and know it arrived, which removes the commonest source of anxiety on this route. Everywhere else in India, you post it and wait blind.
Can a service submit it for me?
No. Applications are accepted from the applicant directly. A service can prepare and check the file; you submit it, in person or by post. Anybody promising to walk it in for you is describing something the rules do not permit.
Will a personal visit speed up publication?
No. Part IV runs on its own schedule and no counter can move you up it. What the visit buys is certainty about delivery rather than speed, and that is still worth the morning if you can spare it.
What should I take with me?
The complete file, a spare set of photocopies, your own identity proof and the BharatKosh payment receipt. Check the office's working days and timings before you set out, since Government offices keep their own calendar and a wasted trip is worse than a posted envelope.
What is the actual fee?
Commonly Rs 1,100 for an adult, Rs 1,700 for a minor and Rs 3,500 for Indians abroad, paid only through bharatkosh.gov.in and revised each financial year. Confirm the current rate on deptpub.gov.in before paying.
Why do some pages say Rs 520 or Rs 523?
Because they are wrong, and one page gives both figures in the same article. A similar number appears as a state gazette fee elsewhere in India, which suggests another state's figure has been pasted onto a Delhi page.
What is the Rs 250 per alias charge I keep reading about?
It is a misreading that has spread across a great many guides. The additional charge relates to a change of religion case, not to each additional alias name. Since the schedule is revised each financial year, read the current rate on deptpub.gov.in before you pay.
Do I need a demand draft?
No. Demand drafts are not accepted, whatever an older page says, including some still live. Payment is only through bharatkosh.gov.in and the fee is non-refundable, so the file must be right before you pay rather than after.
Do I need to submit a CD?
No. The soft copy is submitted as an MS Word file, not on a disc. Any page telling you to burn a digital CD is describing a requirement that was replaced years ago.
Does the same office publish the Delhi Gazette too?
Yes. The Department's own material sets rates for advertisement notices in both the Gazette of India and the Delhi Gazette. For a personal name change you want Part IV of the Gazette of India, because it is recognised outside Delhi as well as within it.
Which newspapers should I use?
One Hindi and one English daily that genuinely circulate in Delhi. Rates vary widely here, so compare quotes rather than accepting the first agent, and keep the complete original page with the date visible.
My board certificate is from another state. What then?
Decide your name against that certificate, since it is usually the hardest to change, then use the Central Gazette and apply to that board with the notification attached. Ask the board first what it accepts, and start as soon as the gazette publishes.
Where do I correct a birth certificate?
At the body that registered it: the Municipal Corporation of Delhi for most of the city, the New Delhi Municipal Council for the NDMC area, or the Delhi Cantonment Board. The certificate names the issuing body, so check it before you go anywhere.
My birth was registered outside Delhi. What then?
The correction goes to that body wherever it is, usually by post. That is true of a great many Delhi residents, and it is worth checking the certificate before assuming a local office can help.
Will I get a printed gazette by post?
No. Hard copies ceased on 1 October 2015. You download the PDF free from egazette.gov.in using Control and F to find your name. It needs no certification, so print several copies yourself.
Can I pay extra to publish faster?
No. There is no expedited service and no tatkal fee head. Carrying the file in yourself does not move you up the schedule either. A promise of faster processing for a higher fee describes a company's own turnaround.
Can a gazette alone correct my board certificate?
No. The board runs its own correction process and decides the outcome. The gazette supports the application rather than replacing it, and the institution's own timeline sits on top of yours.
I am a Central Government employee. Anything extra?
Yes, and it matters here more than anywhere, because Delhi has the highest concentration of them. Follow MHA O.M. No. 190016/1/87-Estt.(A) dated 12 March 1987, executing a deed through the department so the service book is updated alongside the gazette. Keep the departmental acknowledgement with your gazette copy.
Can I change my name after marriage without a court order?
Yes. A simple name change needs the affidavit, newspaper and gazette stages only, with the marriage certificate attached. No court is involved. If you keep using your existing name, you do not need a gazette at all.
How do I change a minor's name?
A parent or legal guardian applies with a parent-sworn affidavit and the child's birth certificate. The minor fee, commonly Rs 1,700, applies with the usual revision caveat. Both parents signing avoids objections later, and no personal appearance by the child is required.
Are the Rs 999 offers real?
The Government fee alone is commonly Rs 1,100, so a Rs 999 all-inclusive package cannot include it. Ask what is actually covered, what is billed separately, and what happens if the file is returned.
Where can you verify all of this yourself?
Every claim above can be checked at these sources. Type the addresses yourself rather than following a link from any guide, including this one.
- Department of Publication, Government of IndiaThe office itself: Civil Lines, behind Delhi Vidhan Sabha Metro Station, Delhi 110054, a subordinate office of the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, headed by the Controller of Publications and assisted by two Assistant Controllers and a Financial Officer. Read the address here before believing any page that gives another city.
- Guidelines for Change of Name, Department of PublicationThe whole file in one place: the notice for Part IV, the undertaking, the proforma computer typed in two copies with two witnesses, the MS Word soft copy, the matching contents certificate, the one year rule and the fee heads. Note what is absent: any CD, and any demand draft.
- The Gazette of India, e-Gazette portalSearch and download your published Part IV notification free. Hard copies ceased on 1 October 2015. Use Control and F to find your name, then print several copies, because every office afterwards wants one.
- BharatKosh, the Non-Tax Receipt PortalThe only accepted channel for the gazette fee, and where the receipt you should carry to Civil Lines comes from. Demand drafts were discontinued, so any page telling you to prepare one is describing something that no longer exists.
- India Code, national repository of lawsThe Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi Act, 1991, whose commencement clause says it comes into force on such date as the Central Government may appoint by notification in the Official Gazette, and the Registration of Births and Deaths Act, 1969 including Section 15.
- Municipal Corporation of DelhiThe registering authority for births and deaths across most of the city, and therefore where a Section 15 correction goes if your certificate names it. Check the certificate before you go anywhere.
- New Delhi Municipal CouncilThe registering authority for births and deaths in the NDMC area of central New Delhi. Certificates issued here name the Council, and corrections are made by it rather than by any gazette.
- Civil Registration System, Registrar General of IndiaThe national framework for birth and death registration and for Registrar corrections under Section 15, wherever in India the birth was registered. Read this before anyone tells you a gazette will fix a birth certificate.
- Unique Identification Authority of IndiaAadhaar name update rules and accepted proofs. Number one on the update list, because so many records below it verify against Aadhaar.
- Passport SevaRe-issue with a change of name, and the given name and surname fields whose split follows you onto every visa afterwards. Worth reading before the affidavit is drafted, not after.
- Ministry of Home AffairsThe source of Office Memorandum No. 190016/1/87-Estt.(A) dated 12 March 1987, under which a Central Government employee executes a deed through the department so the service book is updated alongside the gazette. It matters more in Delhi than anywhere.
- Ministry of Housing and Urban AffairsThe Ministry the Department of Publication reports to. Useful only for confirming that the office is what it says it is, which on this particular search is worth two minutes.
- Documentadvisor: Affidavit for Name ChangeThe affidavit format this record update is built on: who can attest it, and what it should say.
- Documentadvisor: Correction to a Published GazetteWhen a published Gazette notification itself contains an error, and how to correct it.
- Documentadvisor: Name Change Newspaper AdvertisementThe newspaper notice format and cost, where the underlying change goes through a Gazette.
- Documentadvisor: Name Change in PAN CardUpdating PAN, commonly done alongside Aadhaar and bank records.
The short version
Everything on this page in ten lines
- Three stages: a notarised affidavit with the exact form of your name settled first, two newspaper notices in a Hindi and an English daily, and the file to the Department of Publication.
- The office is at Civil Lines, behind the Delhi Vidhan Sabha Metro station, Delhi 110054, under the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs.
- Delhi is the one city in India where you can hand the file over a counter and know it arrived. That removes the biggest source of anxiety on this route.
- But you must go yourself: applications are accepted from the applicant directly, not from agents. And it does not make publication any faster.
- The fee is commonly Rs 1,100 adult, Rs 1,700 minor and Rs 3,500 from abroad, on bharatkosh.gov.in only. Carry the receipt if you go in person.
- It is not Rs 520, not Rs 523 and not Rs 999. One well-ranked page prints the first two figures in the same article.
- No demand draft and no CD. Both requirements died years ago and both still appear on live pages, including our own older one.
- If a board certificate from another state is in play, decide your name against that certificate, because it is the hardest thing to change.
- Three bodies register births in Delhi and the certificate names yours. A clerical error there is a Section 15 Registrar correction, not a gazette.
- Central Government employees must also route a deed through their department under the 1987 memorandum, so the service book and the gazette agree.
Use the advantage you have.
Send us your documents on WhatsApp today. We will tell you which written form of your name should stand when a home-state certificate and your Delhi papers disagree, how the passport fields should be split before that decision becomes permanent, what the Government fee actually is, and whether a Registrar correction would have solved it for a fraction of the cost. Then we check the file, and you walk it in at Civil Lines yourself. Across Karol Bagh, Rohini, Dwarka, Saket, Laxmi Nagar and every part of the NCT.