Name Change Procedure in Himachal Pradesh
Himachal took twenty three years and five changes of status before its own name and standing were settled, and every one of them was made real by a notification. Your name works the same way. This page covers all 12 districts: the two routes that actually exist, which one your case needs, honest fees, and the pre-1966 Punjab records problem no competing page mentions.
To change your name in Himachal Pradesh, make a notarised affidavit, publish the change in two newspapers, one Hindi and one English, then apply for a gazette notification. Himachal runs its own online state gazette, the HP Rajpatra, and the Central Gazette of India in Delhi is the route for anything that has to work outside the state. The Central notification appears in Part IV on egazette.gov.in in about 30 to 45 days.
What does the name change procedure in Himachal Pradesh involve?
One decision, then three careful stages. The decision is which gazette, and getting it wrong means doing the whole job twice. The stages are simple enough. What is not simple is the search result you land on. One widely shared page places the Central Gazette office in North Himachal Pradesh at Civil Lines, Himachal Pradesh-110054, which is a Delhi pincode with a state name pasted over it. The same publisher's Himachal page offers name change services in Hyedrabad, wrong city and misspelt. Another calls the gazette notification a court order.
A Gazette notification is a formal announcement of your name change printed in the official journal of a Government. Once it carries a date and a page number, passport offices, UIDAI, banks, HPBOSE, universities and employers treat it as the legal record of your new name. An affidavit on its own is the start of the change, not the finish.
At a glance
- Where it applies
- All 12 districts of Himachal Pradesh, across 55,673 square kilometres
- State route
- HP Rajpatra, published online at rajpatrahimachal.nic.in
- State department
- Printing and Stationery Department, Himachal Pradesh, through the Controller of Gazette
- Central route
- Gazette of India, Part IV, a signed file posted to Delhi
- Central office
- Department of Publication, Civil Lines, Delhi 110054. No branch in Shimla
- Newspapers
- Two notices, one Hindi and one English. Hindi is correct in Himachal
- Central fee
- Commonly Rs 1,100 adult, Rs 1,700 minor, revised yearly, not refundable
- State fee
- Confirm with the department. Figures on private sites are unreliable
- Time
- 30 to 45 days after the Central file reaches Delhi, 3 to 7 weeks end to end
- Where to download
- egazette.gov.in, free, digital only since 1 October 2015. Not the older nic.in address
Key takeaways
- Himachal has two real routes. The HP Rajpatra is published online through rajpatrahimachal.nic.in by the Printing and Stationery Department, and the Central Gazette is run by the Department of Publication in Delhi. Himachal is better served than several states that have no citizen state option at all.
- Simple rule for choosing: if the new name only has to work inside Himachal, the state gazette is convenient. If it touches a passport, a bank outside the state, a central Government job or anything abroad, use the Central Gazette from the start so you do not repeat the process.
- Notices go in one Hindi daily and one English daily. Hindi is the official language of Himachal Pradesh, so the copied instruction that misleads readers in several other states is correct here.
- The Central fee is commonly Rs 1,100 for adults and Rs 1,700 for minors, paid only through bharatkosh.gov.in, revised each financial year and not refundable. For the state charge, ask the department.
- There is exactly one Central Gazette office: Department of Publication, Civil Lines, Delhi 110054, in North Delhi. Not in Himachal, whatever a widely shared page prints.
- Anyone schooled, employed or registered before 1 November 1966 in Kangra, Kullu, the Shimla hills, Lahaul and Spiti, Una or Nalagarh holds Punjab era certificates. They remain valid, and a gazette notification is what reconciles them with newer records.
- The whole job takes about 3 to 7 weeks on the Central route, longer in winter from the interior. There is no official expedited option on either route.
- A birth certificate mistake is a Registrar correction under Section 15 of the Registration of Births and Deaths Act, 1969. It is not a gazette matter.
Video: the name change procedure in Himachal Pradesh
Prefer to watch? These two cover the whole process end to end. Nine more sit beside the sections they belong to, and most are in Hindi.
Name change procedure in Himachal Pradesh, and name correction
The process in short
The name change process in Himachal Pradesh हिमाचल प्रदेश में नाम बदलने की प्रक्रिया
Every video on this page
- The gazette office in Himachal PradeshWhere it is, and where it is not.
- Changing the name, and making the notificationTwo videos on the procedure itself.
- The document listWhat the file actually needs.
- Aadhaar, first in the update orderEverything else verifies against it.
- School records, and name change after divorceThe two most common special cases.
- Government employeesThe departmental deed and the service book.
- Name change consultantsWhat an honest one actually does.
Why did it take a state twenty three years to settle its own name?
Because every single change had to be made real by a notification. Yours works the same way.
Himachal Pradesh came into existence as a political entity on 15 April 1948, formed by integrating the princely states of Chamba, Mandi, Suket and Sirmaur together with twenty six smaller states known as the Punjab Hill States, around thirty in all. When the Constitution came into force it became a Part C state on 26 January 1950. Bilaspur, itself a Part C state, merged in during 1954. On 1 November 1956 Himachal became a Union Territory.
Then came the change that redrew the map. Under the Punjab Reorganisation Act, 1966 (Act 31 of 1966), which received assent on 18 September 1966, Section 5 transferred territory from Punjab to Himachal Pradesh: Simla, Kangra, Kullu and Lahaul and Spiti districts, along with named tehsils and kanungo circles. Section 2(b) fixed the appointed day as 1 November 1966. The territory grew to about 55,673 square kilometres, and Himachal was still only a Union Territory.
Full statehood came when Parliament passed the State of Himachal Pradesh Act on 18 December 1970, and the new state came into being on 25 January 1971, the eighteenth state of the Indian Union, with Y. S. Parmar as its first Chief Minister.
HP Rajpatra or the Central Gazette: which one does your case need?
This is the one decision that matters. Choose wrong and you do the whole job twice.
Himachal is better organised than most states here, because it runs its own gazette online rather than leaving citizens with no state option at all. The HP Rajpatra is published at rajpatrahimachal.nic.in by the Printing and Stationery Department through the Controller of Gazette. It is a serious, working portal: digitally signed eGazettes, full text search, a corrigendum section, and tens of thousands of notifications submitted by more than a hundred Government departments. The department can be reached on 0177-2830373 and 0177-2830402.
What the state gazette is good for is the separate question, and this is where the useful advice lies. A state notification is a lawful state record, and it is often exactly what an HPBOSE office, a state university or a state service department wants. It is not what a passport office, a central Government employer, a bank in another state or a foreign authority looks for. Those want Part IV of the Gazette of India.
| Point | HP Rajpatra (state) | Central Gazette of India |
|---|---|---|
| Run by | Printing and Stationery Department, Himachal Pradesh, through the Controller of Gazette | Department of Publication, a subordinate office of the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs |
| Where published | Online at rajpatrahimachal.nic.in, digitally signed and searchable | Part IV of the Gazette of India, weekly Saturday issues |
| Newspaper notices | Two, one Hindi and one English | Two, one Hindi and one English, complete original pages |
| Fee | Confirm the current charge with the department | Commonly Rs 1,100 adult and Rs 1,700 minor, via BharatKosh, revised each financial year |
| Best for | Records that stay inside Himachal: HPBOSE, state universities, state service records | Passport, central Government jobs, banks in other states, anything abroad |
| Reach | A state notification | Accepted across India and recognised by embassies |
Where the gazette office actually is, on video
Gazette office in Himachal Pradesh and the address people search for
Four claims about Himachal Pradesh that are wrong
Each of these is on a page ranking today, and each one costs somebody time, money or a wasted journey.
A Delhi office relocated to North Himachal
One page states that the Central Gazette office is in North Himachal Pradesh, and gives the address as Department of Publication, Civil Lines, Himachal Pradesh-110054. Pincode 110054 is Civil Lines, North Delhi. The same publisher has run this line with other state names pasted into the same slot. The same page also advertises services in a completely different city, misspelt.
A gazette counter you must visit
Older pages say every person needs to physically submit the application to the department of Gazette in Himachal Pradesh, then send the reader to the Central Government Gazette a line later. There is no counter to walk into for a personal name change: the state route runs through the online Rajpatra, and Central files go to Delhi by post.
An invented surname procedure
The same publisher's Himachal surname page requires genealogical documentation, census records and a court order, and lists witness protection as a reason for a surname change. None of that belongs to the gazette process. An ordinary surname change needs the affidavit, the two notices and the application.
A demand draft, and a court order
Pages still tell readers to attach a demand draft drawn in favour of a Controller of Publications in their own state. That route closed years ago, payment is only through BharatKosh, and no such officer sits in Himachal. Others call the gazette notification a court order you can use. It is not, and no court is involved in an ordinary name change.
How does the name change procedure in Himachal Pradesh work, step by step?
Five stages, and the first one decides whether your file passes.
Fix the spelling, then the affidavit
One exact form of the new name, including spacing, then a notarised affidavit built around it.
Two newspaper notices
One Hindi daily and one English daily circulating where you live, with the complete original pages kept as proof.
State or Central filing
The Rajpatra application through the state department, or the signed file posted to Delhi with the fee on BharatKosh.
Step 1: fix the exact spelling, then draft the affidavit
Choose one exact form of your new name, including the spelling and the spacing, and never vary it again. Then get an affidavit drafted on stamp paper stating your old name, your new name, your father's or husband's name, your full address in Himachal and a clear reason for the change, and sign it before a notary. Stamp paper and notary together usually cost Rs 100 to Rs 500. Everything printed after this document has to match it letter for letter, and a single character's difference is the most common reason files come back.
Step 2: publish in two newspapers, one Hindi and one English
Publish the same notice in two dailies that genuinely circulate where you live: one Hindi and one English. Hindi is the official language of Himachal Pradesh, so this pairing is the right one here, unlike several states where copied guides get the language wrong. Choose editions that actually reach your district, whether that is the Shimla belt, Kangra, Mandi or a paper that circulates in the tribal districts. The notice must carry your old name, new name, full address, age, father's or husband's name, the date of the affidavit and the notary's name. Keep the complete original printed page of each newspaper with the date visible, not a cutting. Two notices usually cost Rs 800 to Rs 4,000.
Step 3A: the state route, through the HP Rajpatra
For a state notification the HP Rajpatra is published at rajpatrahimachal.nic.in by the Printing and Stationery Department. Confirm the current application method, document list and charge with the department directly rather than trusting a figure on a private website, and retrieve your published notification from the portal once it is out. The portal carries full text search, so you find your own notification by searching for your name.
Step 3B: the Central route, file prepared for Delhi
For the Gazette of India, the file contains the original newspaper pages, a signed undertaking showing the old and new name with parentage and address, two copies of the prescribed proforma computer typed and not handwritten, signed and attested, a soft copy of the notice text as the department directs, a certificate signed by you declaring that the hard copy and the soft copy match, self-attested identity proof of the applicant and of one witness, two passport size photographs, and a request letter to the Controller of Publications. Keep every supporting document less than one year old.
Step 4: pay the Central fee through BharatKosh only
The Central fee is paid only through bharatkosh.gov.in, the Government's Non-Tax Receipt Portal. It is commonly Rs 1,100 for an adult and Rs 1,700 for a minor, with an additional fee per alias if you publish aliases. The Department of Publication revises these amounts each financial year, so confirm the current figure on deptpub.gov.in before paying. The fee is not refundable, and demand drafts are no longer accepted.
Step 5: post the file and download your notification
Send the complete Central file by post or courier to the Department of Publication, Civil Lines, Delhi 110054. Speed post from Shimla, Dharamshala or a hill town works exactly as well as walking it in from a Delhi address, though allow an extra day or two each way from the interior districts. Applications are accepted from the applicant directly, not from agents, which is why an honest consultant prepares your file end to end while you sign and send it. Your notification then appears in Part IV of the Gazette of India in weekly Saturday dated issues. Hard copies ceased on 1 October 2015, so you open the issue on egazette.gov.in, search the PDF for your old or new name, and download the whole gazette as your own copy. It needs no further certification.
The procedure and the notification, on video
How to change a name in Himachal Pradesh हिमाचल प्रदेश में नाम कैसे बदलें
How to make a gazette notification in Himachal Pradesh हिमाचल प्रदेश में गजट नोटिफिकेशन कैसे बनाएं
What documents are required for a name change in Himachal Pradesh?
One core list for both routes, plus what the Central file adds.
The core file, either route
- Notarised name change affidavit on stamp paper, hard copy
- Aadhaar or other Government photo identity showing the old name, self-attested
- Address proof in Himachal: electricity bill, water bill, rent agreement or ration card
- Complete original newspaper pages of both notices, Hindi and English, dates visible
- The completed application form for the route you are using
- Two to three passport size photographs
What the Central route adds, and what your case may need
- Two copies of the prescribed proforma, computer typed, signed and attested
- A CD with the notice text in MS Word, without the witness portion, and a certificate signed by you that the hard and soft copies match. The Department of Publication guidelines still list this
- Self-attested identity of one witness, and a request letter to the Controller of Publications
- Marriage certificate, if the change follows a marriage
- Divorce decree, if the change follows a divorce
- Birth certificate of the child, where the applicant is a minor
- Deed attested by the Indian Embassy or Consulate, if you apply from abroad
- Departmental deed, if you are a Central Government employee
Documents required for a name change in Himachal Pradesh नाम परिवर्तन के लिए आवश्यक दस्तावेज़
What does a name change in Himachal Pradesh really cost?
Short answer: the Central fee is commonly Rs 1,100 for an adult, and a realistic all-in total is Rs 2,000 to Rs 6,000.
| Item | Typical amount | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Stamp paper and notary | Rs 100 to Rs 500 | A local notary in any district. |
| Two newspaper notices | Rs 800 to Rs 4,000 | One Hindi daily and one English daily circulating where you live. |
| HP Rajpatra charge | Confirm with the department | Do not rely on a service company's figure. Ask the Printing and Stationery Department. |
| Central Gazette fee, adult | Commonly Rs 1,100 | Paid through BharatKosh only. The Department of Publication revises it each financial year. |
| Central Gazette fee, minor | Commonly Rs 1,700 | Applies to anyone under 18. Also paid through BharatKosh. |
| Speed post to Delhi | Rs 50 to Rs 200 | Central route only. There is no Central counter in Shimla. |
| Applying from abroad | Around Rs 7,500 to Rs 9,000 | Central route, plus embassy or consulate attestation of the deed. |
| Gazette PDF retrieval | Free | A published gazette is a public record. Nobody should charge you to fetch it. |
| Realistic self-done total | Rs 2,000 to Rs 6,000 | Depends on the route and on which newspapers you choose. |
| Documentadvisor assistance | Quoted per case | Charged separately from Government charges. Call 9540005002 for a fixed quote before you commit. |
How long does a name change take in Himachal Pradesh?
Short answer: a few weeks on the state route, 3 to 7 weeks on the Central route, and no paid fast track on either.
Day 1 to 2
The exact spelling fixed in writing, documents collected, affidavit drafted and notarised at a local notary.
Day 2 to 9
Notices booked in one Hindi and one English daily. Allow for the paper's schedule and its booking cut-off, then collect the complete pages.
State route, then a few weeks
The application submitted to the department with the affidavit, pages, proofs and photographs, then publication in the Rajpatra for a complete file.
Central route, then 30 to 45 days
Two to five days to prepare and post, the fee paid on BharatKosh, then publication in Part IV about 30 to 45 days after the file arrives.
Plan for 3 to 7 weeks on the Central route from the first phone call to a notification you can download. Allow a little extra from the interior and tribal districts for post both ways, and more in winter when hill routes are slower. If you are running both routes, start them together rather than one after the other.
What about documents issued before the 1966 merger?
This is the section no competing page covers, and it affects a large number of Himachal families.
Until 1 November 1966, Kangra, Kullu, the Shimla hill areas, Lahaul and Spiti, Nalagarh, parts of Una tehsil and Dalhousie were part of Punjab. Anyone schooled, employed or registered in those areas before that date holds certificates issued by Punjab, not Himachal. Older families often hold a mix: a grandfather's Punjab era school certificate, a father's Himachal Union Territory record from between 1966 and 1971, and a child's post statehood documents. Land and revenue records from those areas carry the same layered history.
Those older documents remain valid, and it is worth being precise about why. The Punjab Reorganisation Act, 1966 contains no clause invalidating anything already issued. What it does is carry the existing law forward: Section 88 deals with the territorial extent of laws, so laws in force in the transferred areas continued to apply there, and Section 89 gave the power to adapt them. Section 92 substituted the successor administration in pending legal proceedings. Nothing in the Act turns a Punjab certificate into a wrong one because the district now sits in Himachal.
The real problem is different, and it is common: where the name itself is written differently across those eras. Entries were made by different hands under different administrations, and a spelling that satisfied a Punjab clerk in 1961 may not match what a Himachal office recorded in 1978 or what Aadhaar carries today. Nothing goes wrong until two documents have to agree for a passport, a bank KYC or a job verification.
How the mismatch shows up
- A Punjab era matriculation certificate from Kangra spelling a name one way, and a Himachal record spelling it another
- A father's name entered differently on a pre-1966 revenue record and a post-1971 one
- A village or family name carried on older papers and dropped from newer identity documents
- Land records for the same holding written under three administrations in three forms
What fixes it
A gazette notification declaring one exact written form. It does not touch the old records, and it does not need to. It gives every office from that day onward a single version to work from, and it sits alongside the older papers as the bridge between them.
If your records straddle 1966, bring both the old and the new certificate to the first call. The wording of the affidavit is what has to reconcile them, and that is decided before anything is drafted.
Which parts of Himachal Pradesh do we serve?
Both routes run online and by post, so hill roads and distance from Delhi change nothing. We support applicants across all 12 districts.
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 complete name change service guide.
Related guides
Other states written up in the same detail, plus the national process, in case your records sit in more than one place.
What do the gazette terms actually mean?
The words that appear on every name change website, and the Himachal ones, in language people actually use.
- Gazette notification
- A formal announcement printed in the official journal of a Government. For a name change it is what Aadhaar, PAN, passport offices, banks, boards and employers accept as legal proof. It is not a court order.
- HP Rajpatra
- The state gazette of Himachal Pradesh, published online at rajpatrahimachal.nic.in, digitally signed and searchable by full text.
- Printing and Stationery Department
- The Himachal Pradesh department that runs the Rajpatra through the Controller of Gazette. Confirm the state application method and charge here.
- Central Gazette
- The Gazette of India, published by the Department of Publication in Civil Lines, Delhi. Accepted across India and by foreign missions.
- Part IV
- The section of the Gazette of India carrying notices from private people rather than from Government. Part IV belongs to the Central Gazette only.
- Controller of Publications
- The officer heading the Department of Publication, at Civil Lines, Delhi 110054. There is no Controller of Publications in Himachal Pradesh.
- Affidavit
- A written statement you swear is true, signed before a notary, recording your old name, new name, parentage, address and the reason for the change.
- Proforma
- The prescribed application format the Department of Publication requires on the Central route, computer typed in two signed and attested copies.
- BharatKosh
- The Non-Tax Receipt Portal at bharatkosh.gov.in, the only accepted channel for the Central Gazette fee. Demand drafts were discontinued.
- HPBOSE
- The Himachal Pradesh Board of School Education, which issues matric and plus two certificates and runs its own correction process for names on them.
- Punjab era record
- A certificate or revenue entry issued before 1 November 1966 in Kangra, Kullu, the Shimla hills, Lahaul and Spiti, Una or Nalagarh, when those areas were part of Punjab. Still fully valid.
- Registrar correction
- A correction to a birth or death record under Section 15 of the Registration of Births and Deaths Act, 1969, through the body that issued it. Not a gazette matter.
What do you update after the gazette, and in what order?
The gazette is the middle of the journey, not the end. Doing this in the wrong order turns a four week job into a four month one.
| Order | Record | Why it comes here |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Aadhaar | Almost everything else verifies against Aadhaar. Update it at an enrolment centre with the gazette PDF and your identity proof. |
| 2 | PAN card | The correction form asks for proof, and an updated Aadhaar makes this straightforward. |
| 3 | Bank accounts | Banks check the PAN and Aadhaar pair. Updating the bank before those two creates a mismatch you then have to undo. |
| 4 | Passport | Re-issue with the change of name, checking that the given name and surname split matches your declaration exactly. |
| 5 | Voter ID and driving licence | Straightforward once Aadhaar carries the new name. |
| 6 | EPFO or UAN and insurance | Employer linked records. HR usually needs the notification and the updated Aadhaar together. |
| 7 | HPBOSE, board and university records | Slowest of the lot. Each board and university runs its own correction process and charges its own fee. |
| 8 | Land and revenue records, property and business records | Through the revenue office, with the published notification as your proof. |
Aadhaar rules are on uidai.gov.in and passport re-issue rules on passportindia.gov.in.
Aadhaar, the first record to update
How to change a name in Aadhaar in Himachal Pradesh हिमाचल प्रदेश में आधार में नाम कैसे बदलें
Is a birth certificate mistake a gazette matter in Himachal Pradesh?
No. If the error sits in a birth certificate, whether it is a wrong spelling, a wrong parent name or a missing child name, the fix is a Registrar correction under Section 15 of the Registration of Births and Deaths Act, 1969. You apply to the body that issued the certificate: your Municipal Corporation, Nagar Panchayat or gram panchayat. The Civil Registration System portal is crsorgi.gov.in.
A gazette notification can support the file, but it does not rewrite the certificate itself. Agents who push every birth certificate case into a gazette application are charging you for the wrong process, and the Registrar route is usually both cheaper and faster.
Which special situations come up most in Himachal Pradesh?
Four cases we see constantly, starting with the most common one here.
HPBOSE and university records
A spelling on a matric or plus two certificate that does not match the Aadhaar is one of the most common reasons people here start the process. The Himachal Pradesh Board of School Education runs its own correction process, and universities have theirs. The gazette notification supports that application, especially for a bigger change, but the board's own procedure decides the outcome. Nobody can promise that a gazette alone rewrites a board certificate. Ask the board which gazette it accepts before choosing a route, since state records often accept the state notification.
Working or studying outside the state
Himachal sends a large number of people to Chandigarh, Delhi, Punjab and further afield for study and work, and that is usually where a name mismatch first surfaces. The Central Gazette settles it nationwide, because Part IV is valid in every state. The file can be prepared and posted from wherever you are, and family at home can send it if that is easier, as long as the papers carry your own signature.
Marriage, divorce and a minor child
A woman adding a husband's surname follows the same stages with the marriage certificate attached. Reverting to a maiden name after a divorce follows the same route with the decree attached. If you keep using your existing name and nothing on paper changes, you do not need a gazette at all. For a minor, a parent or legal guardian applies, swearing the affidavit and attaching the child's birth certificate. On the Central route the minor fee applies, commonly Rs 1,700 with the usual revision caveat, and both parents signing avoids objections later.
Land and revenue records
A gazette notification does not update land records by itself. Take the published notification to the revenue office and follow their process so the record reflects your new name. This matters more than usual in Himachal, where holdings often trace back through generations of entries made under different administrations, including the Punjab era before 1966.
School records, and a name change after divorce
How to change a name in a school record in Himachal Pradesh हिमाचल प्रदेश में स्कूल रिकॉर्ड में नाम परिवर्तन
How to change your name after divorce in Himachal Pradesh हिमाचल प्रदेश में तलाक के बाद नाम कैसे बदलें
What changes for Government employees?
Central Government employees follow the Ministry of Home Affairs Office Memorandum No. 190016/1/87-Estt.(A) dated 12 March 1987: a deed of change of name is executed and routed through the department, so that the service book is updated alongside the gazette notification.
State Government employees in Himachal should likewise inform their department rather than doing the gazette quietly. A service record that does not match the published name creates a second problem, usually at promotion or pension, years later. Ask your department one thing before you spend anything: which gazette they want on the record, and in what order, because for state service records the Rajpatra is often what is asked for. Send us any departmental circular and we build the file around it.
How to change the name of a Government employee in Himachal Pradesh हिमाचल प्रदेश में सरकारी कर्मचारियों का नाम कैसे बदलें
What names does the law not allow, and what do you gain by doing it properly?
You may take almost any name you like. Almost.
Names that will not be accepted
- A name taken in order to hide your identity
- A name taken to escape a debt, a liability or a legal proceeding
- A name that is obscene or offensive
- A name containing punctuation marks or symbols
- A name that impersonates another person for gain
A change of name does not erase anything behind you. Your old records stay linked through the notification itself, which names both the old and the new name. That is the point of publishing it.
What you gain by doing it legally
- Official recognition that every department works from, public or private
- One exact spelling that Aadhaar, PAN, bank, HPBOSE and passport records all follow
- A single version that reconciles Punjab era papers with Himachal ones
- A dated public record you can show any office that questions the change
- No lawyer and no court order needed, because this is an administrative process
What mistakes get Himachal applications rejected?
Every one of these is avoidable, and on the Central route every one costs the fee again, because it is not refundable.
In the file itself
- A spelling gap between the affidavit, the newspaper notices and the ID proof, even by one letter or space. This single issue causes more failures than everything else combined
- Booking the newspaper notice before the affidavit is notarised, when the paper wants the affidavit copy first
- Sending a cutting instead of the complete original page with the date visible
- A soft copy whose text does not match the hard copy, when a signed certificate says it does
- Documents older than one year in the Central file
Because of the wrong route or bad advice
- Choosing the state gazette when the name is needed for a passport or a job outside Himachal, and having to repeat the whole process
- Arranging a demand draft instead of paying on BharatKosh
- Collecting genealogical papers or a court order that no gazette office asked for
- Travelling to an address copied from a private website, including one that places the Delhi office in Himachal
- Waiting for a printed gazette by courier, when hard copies ceased on 1 October 2015
Should you do it yourself or take professional help?
Both routes can be done alone, and Himachal's state portal makes the local route reasonably convenient.
| Point of comparison | Doing it yourself | Using Documentadvisor |
|---|---|---|
| Money out | Rs 2,000 to Rs 6,000, if nothing goes wrong | Government charge plus a quoted service charge |
| Your time | A notary visit, two newspaper bookings, the Rajpatra application or the Delhi file, and the follow-up | About 30 minutes of sending scans and confirming the wording |
| The Himachal specific risk | Choosing the state gazette for a name that will be used on a passport, and having to do the entire job a second time | We settle the route question first, against where the name actually has to work |
| The judgement call | Which written form reconciles Punjab era papers with Himachal ones, and what the board will accept afterwards | We work that out in writing before anything is drafted |
| Risk of paying twice | The Central fee is not refundable, and one letter of variation sends the file back after weeks | We confirm the exact spelling with you in writing before anything is typed or booked |
| Best if | A plain change, one clear spelling, records all inside Himachal | A passport, a visa, an HPBOSE or university record, a service record, pre-1966 papers, or both routes together |
The judgement that actually matters is which route your case needs, because choosing the state gazette for a name that will be used on a passport means doing the work twice. After that it is discipline: one exact spelling on every paper, the right notice wording, the matching soft copy, and the correct payment channel. A consultant works out the route, prepares the wording, assembles the file and tracks it to publication. You can compare the whole range of name change services before deciding. Since the Central Gazette accepts applications only from the applicant directly, an honest service prepares and tracks your file rather than claiming to submit it for you. That is exactly how Documentadvisor works.
What a name change consultant actually does
Name change consultant in Himachal Pradesh हिमाचल प्रदेश में नेम चेंज कंसल्टेंट्स
Your Trust and Security First
A name change means handing your identity documents to someone you have never met. We take that seriously, and we would rather be slow and correct than fast and wrong.
Your documents stay private
Your scans go to one advisor and one file. We do not resell your details, add you to a marketing list, or share your papers outside your case.
We work from the department's own site
Not from a search result. In a search where a ranking page puts the Delhi gazette office inside Himachal and advertises services in the wrong city, that single habit prevents most of the wasted trips and wasted money.
We settle the route before you spend
State gazette or Central, decided against where your name actually has to work: a board record, a passport, a job outside Himachal. Getting this wrong is the one mistake here that costs you the whole process twice.
One exact spelling, agreed in writing
We send you the exact wording, letter by letter, including how it reconciles any Punjab era certificate, and wait for your written confirmation before anything is typed or booked. The Central fee is not refundable, so this protects your money.
Government charge shown separately
Our charge and the Government charge are always quoted as two lines. And we never charge you to retrieve a published gazette, because that is a free public record.
Your originals come back to you
Original newspaper pages and the affidavit come back once the file is accepted, and we keep a scanned set so a lost document years later is not a fresh problem.
Everything You Need, In One Place
One place for the paperwork people find hardest: gazette notifications, affidavits, newspaper advertisements, rental agreements and property papers. Drafted, checked and filed by a team that does it daily.
Document Services
India's trusted documentation consultant and newspaper ad portal
How It Works
Booking a service with Documentadvisor is as easy as 1-2-3. Sit back and let our team do the work.
Book
Call, WhatsApp or fill the form. Tell us your old name, the complete new name you want, your district and where the name has to be accepted, then send clear scans, including any pre-1966 certificate.
Schedule
We confirm the route and the exact spelling with you in writing, draft the affidavit, then schedule the Hindi and English notices and either the Rajpatra application or the Delhi file.
Relax
We track the file and send you the published notification, along with a written checklist of which record to update next. No travel, no queues, no wrong office.
The questions Google gets asked most about Himachal Pradesh
Does Himachal Pradesh have its own gazette?
Yes. The HP Rajpatra is published online at rajpatrahimachal.nic.in by the Printing and Stationery Department through the Controller of Gazette, with digitally signed eGazettes and full text search. Himachal residents therefore have both a state option and the Central option.
How can I change my name legally in Himachal Pradesh?
Make a notarised affidavit, publish the change in two newspapers, one Hindi and one English, then apply for a gazette notification, either the HP Rajpatra for records that stay in the state or the Central Gazette of India for anything that has to work outside it.
Which gazette should I choose, state or Central?
State for records that stay within Himachal, such as HPBOSE and state service records. Central for a passport, a central Government job, a bank in another state or anything abroad. When in doubt the Central Gazette covers more ground, and doing both is common.
Is there a Central Gazette office in Himachal Pradesh?
No. The only one is the Department of Publication, Civil Lines, Delhi 110054, in North Delhi. Any page giving the address as Civil Lines, Himachal Pradesh-110054 has pasted a state name over a Delhi pincode. Files from Himachal reach it by post or courier.
Do I need to publish in a Hindi newspaper?
Yes. Two notices are required, one Hindi and one English. Hindi is the official language of Himachal Pradesh, so the Hindi and English pairing is correct here, and this is one of the states where the widely copied instruction happens to be right.
Are my old Punjab certificates from Kangra still valid?
Yes. Kangra, Kullu, the Shimla hills, Lahaul and Spiti, Una and Nalagarh were part of Punjab until 1 November 1966, and documents issued before that remain fully valid. Nothing in the Punjab Reorganisation Act, 1966 invalidates them. If the name is written differently across the eras, a gazette notification gives every office one version.
Start your Himachal Pradesh name change today
Tell us your old name, the complete new name you want, your district and where the name has to be accepted. We will tell you which gazette your case needs, exactly what the file requires, the total cost and the timeline, before you pay anything.
- 📞Call 9540005002
Monday to Saturday, 9 AM to 6 PM - WhatsApp 9540005064
Send your scans here, it is the fastest way - ✉️support@documentadvisor.in
- 📍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 name change in Himachal Pradesh
The questions we are asked on the phone every day.
Does Himachal Pradesh have its own gazette route?
Do I have to travel to a gazette office in Himachal?
Which route do I need for a passport?
Which newspapers should I use?
Do some Himachal newspapers ask for the affidavit before accepting the notice?
What does the HP Rajpatra cost?
How do I pay the Central Gazette fee?
Where is the Central Gazette office?
Do I need genealogical records or a court order for a surname change?
My old certificates were issued by Punjab. Are they still valid?
Can a gazette alone correct my HPBOSE certificate?
Is a gazette notification the same as a court order?
Will I get a printed gazette copy by post?
My birth certificate has a mistake. Do I need the gazette?
How long does it take from a hill district, and are the Rs 999 offers real?
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Where can you verify all of this yourself?
Every fact above can be checked at these sources. Please do check them, and please type the addresses rather than clicking a search result.
- HP Rajpatra, the Himachal Pradesh eGazette portalRun by the Printing and Stationery Department through the Controller of Gazette. Digitally signed eGazettes, notification search and full text search. Confirm the current application method and charge here.
- Department of Publication, Government of IndiaThe single Central Gazette office, Civil Lines, behind Delhi Vidhan Sabha Metro Station, Delhi 110054, a subordinate office of the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, with the change of name guidelines, the proforma and the current fee.
- The Gazette of India, e-Gazette portalSearch and download published Central Gazette notifications free. Your Part IV notification appears here, and hard copies ceased on 1 October 2015. Note the address is gov.in, not nic.in.
- BharatKosh, the Non-Tax Receipt PortalThe only accepted channel for the Central Gazette fee. Demand drafts and direct transfers were discontinued.
- Punjab Reorganisation Act, 1966 (PDF)Act 31 of 1966, assented 18 September 1966. Section 5 transferred Simla, Kangra, Kullu and Lahaul and Spiti and named tehsils to Himachal Pradesh, Section 2(b) fixed the appointed day as 1 November 1966, and Sections 88, 89 and 92 carry the existing law forward.
- State of Himachal Pradesh Act, 1970Passed by Parliament on 18 December 1970. Himachal Pradesh came into being as the eighteenth state of the Indian Union on 25 January 1971.
- Himachal Pradesh Board of School EducationThe board that issues matric and plus two certificates and runs its own correction process for names on them.
- Civil Registration System, Registrar General of IndiaBirth and death registration, and the framework for Registrar corrections under Section 15 of the RBD Act, 1969.
- Unique Identification Authority of IndiaAadhaar name update rules, accepted proofs and enrolment centre locations.
- Government of Himachal Pradesh official portalDepartment listings and district information for all 12 districts across 55,673 square kilometres.
The short version
Everything on this page in ten lines
- Himachal has two real routes. The HP Rajpatra is published online at rajpatrahimachal.nic.in by the Printing and Stationery Department; the Central Gazette is run from Civil Lines, Delhi 110054.
- Choose by where the name has to work. State gazette for HPBOSE, state universities and state service records. Central Gazette for a passport, central jobs, banks elsewhere and anything abroad.
- Choosing wrong is the expensive mistake here, because it means doing the entire job a second time.
- Both routes start the same way: one exact spelling, a notarised affidavit, and two newspaper notices in Hindi and English.
- Hindi is correct in Himachal. It is the official language of the state, so the instruction that misleads readers elsewhere holds true here.
- The Central fee is commonly Rs 1,100 adult and Rs 1,700 minor, on BharatKosh only, revised each year and not refundable. For the state charge, ask the department.
- There is no Central Gazette office in Himachal. A page giving the address as Civil Lines, Himachal Pradesh-110054 has pasted a state name over a Delhi pincode.
- A gazette notification is not a court order, and no genealogical records or census extracts are needed for an ordinary surname change.
- Pre-1966 Punjab era certificates from Kangra, Kullu, the Shimla hills, Una and Nalagarh remain valid. Nothing in the Punjab Reorganisation Act, 1966 invalidates them; a gazette reconciles the name across the eras.
- A birth certificate mistake is a Registrar correction under Section 15 of the RBD Act, 1969, through the municipal body or gram panchayat.
Change your name once, and change it properly
Send us your documents on WhatsApp today. We will tell you which gazette your case needs, the total cost and the timeline before you pay anything. Shimla, Dharamshala, Mandi, Solan, Kullu, Una and every Himachal district.