Name Change Procedure in Jharkhand
Search this and you will meet a Delhi office relocated to North Jharkhand, a Union ministry that does not exist, and pages where gazette notification has been machine translated into journal warning. People act on all of it. This page gives all 24 districts the real process in plain words: the affidavit, the Hindi and English notices, the Central Gazette file, honest fees, and the one thing about the state gazette that almost every page still has wrong.
To change your name in Jharkhand, make a notarised affidavit, publish the change in two newspapers, one Hindi and one English, then apply to the Central Gazette of India in Delhi with the prescribed proforma and the fee paid through BharatKosh. Your notification appears in Part IV on egazette.gov.in in about 30 to 45 days. The whole file travels by post, and you never need to visit an office.
What does the name change procedure in Jharkhand actually involve?
Three stages, done carefully, and the first one decides whether the other two work. The complication is not the process. It is the information around it. One widely shared page places the Central Gazette office in North Jharkhand, which is a template with the state name pasted over Civil Lines, North Delhi. Another says the Gazette is published by the Ministry of Home and Urban Affairs, a ministry that has never existed. A third invents an entire surname procedure built on genealogical documentation, census records, affidavits from relatives and a court order. And there is one genuine local development that almost none of them mention, covered below.
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, the Jharkhand Academic Council, 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 24 districts of Jharkhand, across five divisions
- Route that works
- Gazette of India, Part IV, a signed file posted to Delhi
- Central office
- Department of Publication, Civil Lines, behind Delhi Vidhan Sabha Metro Station, Delhi 110054
- Which ministry
- A subordinate office of the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, not any Home ministry
- State gazette
- Published by the Directorate of Printing and Stationery, at egazette.jharkhand.gov.in, for Government notifications
- Newspapers
- Two notices, one Hindi and one English. Hindi is correct in Jharkhand
- Central fee
- Commonly Rs 1,100 adult, Rs 1,700 minor, revised yearly, not refundable
- How to pay
- bharatkosh.gov.in only. Demand drafts are no longer accepted
- Time
- 30 to 45 days after the file reaches Delhi, 3 to 7 weeks end to end
- Where to download
- egazette.gov.in, free, digital only since 1 October 2015
Key takeaways
- Jharkhand residents use the Central Gazette. There is no counter in the state where a private person files a personal name change today, and the file goes to Delhi by speed post or courier.
- There is a reason the search results contradict each other. Jharkhand news outlets reported in July 2025 that name change gazette notifications for ordinary citizens were stopped with immediate effect after irregularity and corruption cases, with a notice posted at the office. Pages written before that describe a state route that no longer helps you.
- There is exactly one Central Gazette office: Department of Publication, Civil Lines, behind Delhi Vidhan Sabha Metro Station, Delhi 110054. It is in North Delhi, and it is a subordinate office of the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs.
- The Government 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.
- Notices go in one Hindi daily and one English daily circulating in your district. Hindi is the official language of Jharkhand, so the copied instruction that trips people up in other states is correct here.
- You do not need genealogical records, census extracts, affidavits from relatives or a court order for an ordinary name or surname change, whatever one widely shared page claims.
- The whole job takes 3 to 7 weeks, and there is no official expedited option. A name change is also a one time application, not a monthly subscription.
- 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 Jharkhand
Prefer to watch? These two cover the whole process end to end. Fourteen more sit beside the sections they belong to, and most are in Hindi.
Name change procedure in Jharkhand, the gazette office and name correction
The process in short
How to change a name in Jharkhand झारखंड में नाम कैसे बदलें
Every video on this page
- The gazette office in JharkhandWhere it is, and where it is not.
- Making the gazette notificationThe file that goes to Delhi.
- Changing a surnameIncluding a clan or family name.
- Aadhaar, PAN, passport and licenceFive videos, in update order.
- Birth certificate correctionsThe Registrar route, not the gazette.
- Marksheet, school and education recordsPlus name change after divorce.
- Name change agentsWhat an honest one actually does.
Why does a state share its birthday with one man's name day?
Because the date was chosen, not inherited. And that choice says something worth carrying into your own paperwork.
The demand for a separate Adivasi state is more than a century old. The Chotanagpur Unnati Samaj submitted a memorandum to the Simon Commission in 1928 asking for a separate province. Organisations merged in 1938 into the Chotanagpur and Santhal Pargana Adivasi Sabha, which became the Adivasi Mahasabha the following year under Jaipal Singh Munda, later the Jharkhand Party, which took 32 seats in the 1952 Bihar Assembly. In 1972 the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha was formed and carried the movement through the decades that followed.
Parliament finally passed the Bihar Reorganisation Act, 2000 (Act 30 of 2000), the Lok Sabha on 2 August 2000 and the Rajya Sabha on 11 August 2000. Section 3 formed the new State of Jharkhand out of eighteen districts of southern Bihar on the appointed day, and Section 2 left that day to be fixed by the Central Government by notification in the Official Gazette.
The appointed day could have been any date. It was set as 15 November 2000, the birth anniversary of Birsa Munda, born on 15 November 1875 at Ulihatu in what is now Khunti district, who led a rebellion against colonial rule and died in Ranchi jail on 9 June 1900 at the age of twenty four. Since 2021 that same date is observed nationally as Janjatiya Gaurav Divas. A state carved out of southern Bihar took its birthday from one man's name, and it took effect through the same instrument you are about to use: a notification in the Official Gazette.
Is there a gazette office in Jharkhand for a name change?
Jharkhand has a state gazette. What it does not have, for you, is a public window for a personal name change.
Jharkhand publishes a state gazette the way every state does. It is run by the Directorate of Printing and Stationery under the Finance Department, printed at the Government Press in Ranchi, issued in Ordinary and Extraordinary series, and published online at egazette.jharkhand.gov.in. It carries laws, orders and departmental notifications. That much is real, and pages telling you Jharkhand has no gazette at all are wrong.
The part almost every page misses is more recent. In July 2025, Jharkhand news outlets reported that gazette notification of name changes for ordinary citizens had been stopped with immediate effect, with a notice put up at the office, after cases of serious irregularity and corruption came to light. No order number or named official has been published, so treat it as reported rather than as a document you can cite. For your purposes the practical answer does not depend on it either way: the Central Gazette is the route that works, it is valid in every state and abroad, and the file moves by post.
This also explains why the search results contradict themselves so badly. Pages written earlier describe an offline submission somewhere inside Jharkhand, and then send you to the Central Gazette a line later. They are not describing two options. They are describing one stale instruction stacked on top of a current one.
Where the gazette office actually is, on video
Gazette office in Jharkhand and the address people search for
| Point | Jharkhand Gazette (state) | Central Gazette of India |
|---|---|---|
| Run by | Directorate of Printing and Stationery, Finance Department, Government of Jharkhand | Department of Publication, a subordinate office of the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs |
| Where | Government Press, Ranchi. Published at egazette.jharkhand.gov.in | Civil Lines, behind Delhi Vidhan Sabha Metro Station, Delhi 110054 |
| What it carries | Laws, orders and departmental notifications, Ordinary and Extraordinary series | Part IV carries notices from private people, in weekly Saturday issues |
| Personal name change | No public window for citizens. Reported stopped with immediate effect in July 2025 | Yes. This is the route Jharkhand residents use |
| Fee | Not applicable for a citizen name change | Commonly Rs 1,100 adult and Rs 1,700 minor, via BharatKosh, revised each financial year |
| Reach | A state record | Accepted across India and recognised by embassies |
Four things circulating about Jharkhand 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 Jharkhand
One page states that the Central Gazette office is located in North Jharkhand. The Department of Publication is at Civil Lines in North Delhi. This is a template with the state name pasted in, and the same publisher has run it with other states in the same slot. If a page moves a Delhi office into your state, nothing else on it has been checked either.
A Union ministry that does not exist
Another page credits the Gazette to the Ministry of Home and Urban Affairs. There is no such ministry. The Department of Publication is a subordinate office of the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, and its own website says so on the front page.
An invented surname procedure
A widely shared page describes a Jharkhand surname change requiring genealogical documentation, census records, affidavits from relatives and a court order granted on historical or genealogical reasons. No part of that belongs to the gazette process. An ordinary surname change needs the affidavit, the two notices and the application, and nothing else.
A demand draft, and a monthly subscription
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 Jharkhand. Separately, a marketplace listing sells Jharkhand gazette service at nearly Rs 5,000 per month, bundled with astrological guidance. A name change is a one time application.
How does the name change procedure in Jharkhand 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 any clan or family name and the spacing, then a notarised affidavit built around it.
Two newspaper notices
One Hindi daily and one English daily circulating in your district, with the complete original pages kept as proof.
The Central Gazette file
The proforma, the undertaking and the supporting papers, the fee on BharatKosh, then speed post to Delhi.
Step 1: fix the exact spelling, then draft the affidavit
Choose one exact form of your new name, including spelling, spacing and whether a clan or family name appears at all, 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 Jharkhand 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.
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 Jharkhand, so the instruction that is wrong in several other states is correct here. Choose editions that actually reach your district, whether that is Ranchi, Jamshedpur, Dhanbad, Bokaro or the Santhal Pargana side. The notice must carry your old name, new name, full address, age, father's or husband's name and the date of the affidavit. Keep the complete original printed page of each newspaper with the date clearly visible, not a cutting. Two notices usually cost Rs 800 to Rs 4,000.
Step 3: prepare the Central Gazette file
Your file for the Department of Publication 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 fee through BharatKosh only
The 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 file by post or courier to the Department of Publication, Civil Lines, Delhi 110054. 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. Physical 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.
Making the gazette notification, on video
How to make a gazette notification in Jharkhand झारखंड में गजट नोटिफिकेशन कैसे बनायें
What documents are required for a name change in Jharkhand?
One core list, plus what your particular case adds.
The core file
- Notarised name change affidavit on stamp paper, hard copy
- Aadhaar or other Government photo identity showing the old name, self-attested
- Address proof in Jharkhand: electricity bill, water bill, rent agreement or ration card
- Complete original newspaper pages of both notices, Hindi and English, dates visible
- Filled name change proforma, two copies, computer typed, signed and attested
- Two passport size photographs
- 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
What your case may add
- 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
- Any earlier certificate you want the new name to reconcile with, such as a pre-2000 Bihar era marksheet
What does a name change in Jharkhand really cost?
Short answer: the Government fee is commonly Rs 1,100 for an adult, and a realistic all-in total is Rs 2,500 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. |
| 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 | The only distance cost in the whole process. |
| Applying from abroad | Around Rs 7,500 to Rs 9,000 | 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 2,500 to Rs 6,000 | All stages included, depending 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 Jharkhand?
Short answer: 3 to 7 weeks end to end, and there is no paid fast track.
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. Publication follows each paper's schedule, so allow 2 to 7 days, then collect the complete pages.
Day 9 to 13
The file assembled and checked, the fee paid on BharatKosh, then speed post to Civil Lines, Delhi. Two to four days.
Then 30 to 45 days
Publication in Part IV, roughly 30 to 45 days after the file reaches the Department, then you download the PDF free.
Plan for 3 to 7 weeks from the first phone call to a notification you can download.
Clan names, school names and records that do not agree
This is the section the templated pages skip, and it is where a large share of Jharkhand files actually come from.
Jharkhand is home to the Santhal, Munda, Oraon, Ho, Kharia, Pahadiya and other Adivasi communities. Hindi is the official language of the State, and Jharkhand has additionally given official language status to a long list of others, including Santali, Mundari, Ho, Kharia, Kurukh, Khortha, Nagpuri, Kurmali and Bhumij, alongside Angika, Bengali, Bhojpuri, Magahi, Maithili, Odia and Urdu. Santali has its own script, Ol Chiki, created by Pandit Raghunath Murmu in 1925 and added to the Unicode standard in 2008.
Family names in these communities are clan names, and they carry real meaning about lineage. Record keeping has rarely kept pace with that, and the result shows up on paper in familiar ways:
How the mismatch usually happens
- A clan name recorded on a school register, dropped from a later identity document, and restored differently on a third
- The same name romanised two or three ways across decades, because it was written down by different clerks working from speech in a language they did not write
- A name used at home and a different name entered at school, both genuine, only one of which reached the official record
- Older records made when the family lived under a different district, or a different state altogether
What it costs, and what fixes it
None of it is anyone's fault, and none of it is a legal problem until an office needs two documents to match. Then it becomes a passport delay, a bank KYC block or a job verification query.
A gazette notification declaring one exact written form of your name is the clean fix, because every office afterwards works from that single declaration. You are not giving anything up. The clan name stays if you want it, spelled the way you choose. What you are doing is deciding the spelling once, on purpose, instead of letting each office decide it for you.
Changing a surname or a clan name, on video
How to change a surname in Jharkhand झारखंड में सरनेम कैसे बदलें
Which parts of Jharkhand do we serve?
The whole process runs online and by post, so your district does not matter. We support applicants across all 24 districts and five divisions.
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, 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.
- Central Gazette
- The Gazette of India, published by the Department of Publication in Civil Lines, Delhi. Accepted across India and by foreign missions, and the route Jharkhand residents use.
- 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.
- Jharkhand Gazette
- The state gazette, run by the Directorate of Printing and Stationery and published at egazette.jharkhand.gov.in. It carries Government notifications, in Ordinary and Extraordinary series.
- Department of Publication
- The single Central Gazette office, a subordinate office of the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, at Civil Lines, behind Delhi Vidhan Sabha Metro Station, Delhi 110054.
- Controller of Publications
- The officer heading the Department of Publication in Delhi. There is no Controller of Publications in Jharkhand, so a demand draft in that name has nowhere to go.
- 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, computer typed in two signed and attested copies, never handwritten.
- BharatKosh
- The Non-Tax Receipt Portal at bharatkosh.gov.in, the only accepted channel for the Central Gazette fee. Demand drafts were discontinued.
- Clan name
- A family name carried through lineage in Adivasi communities. It is a name like any other for gazette purposes, and it can be recorded, restored or respelled by declaring one exact form.
- JAC
- The Jharkhand Academic Council, Ranchi, constituted under the Jharkhand Academic Council Act, 2002. It conducts Secondary, Intermediate, Madhyama and Madarsa examinations and runs its own certificate correction process.
- 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 | JAC, board and university records | Slowest of the lot. Each board and university runs its own correction process and charges its own fee. |
| 8 | Land, property, GST and business records | Through the circle office and the registering authority, with the published notification as your proof. |
Aadhaar rules are on uidai.gov.in and passport re-issue rules on passportindia.gov.in.
Aadhaar and PAN, in that order
How to change a name in Aadhaar in Jharkhand झारखंड में आधार में नाम कैसे बदलें
How to change a name on the PAN card in Jharkhand झारखंड में पैन कार्ड में नाम कैसे बदलें
Passport and driving licence
How to change a name in the passport in Jharkhand झारखंड में पासपोर्ट में नाम कैसे बदलें
How to change the father name in the passport in Jharkhand झारखंड में पासपोर्ट में पिता का नाम कैसे बदलें
How to change a name in the driving licence in Jharkhand झारखंड में ड्राइविंग लाइसेंस में नाम कैसे बदलें
Is a birth certificate mistake a gazette matter in Jharkhand?
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 Nagar Nigam, Nagar Parishad or gram panchayat. The Civil Registration System portal is crsorgi.gov.in.
Agents who push every birth certificate case into a gazette application are charging you for the wrong process. A gazette entry can support your file, but it does not rewrite the certificate, and the Registrar route is usually both cheaper and faster.
Birth certificate corrections, on video
How to change a name in a birth certificate in Jharkhand झारखंड में जन्म प्रमाण पत्र में नाम कैसे बदलें
Which special situations come up most in Jharkhand?
Five cases we see constantly, starting with the two that are specific to this state.
Certificates issued by Bihar before 2000
Anyone schooled or employed before 15 November 2000 holds certificates issued by Bihar, and plenty of families hold Bihar era records alongside Jharkhand era ones. Those older documents remain valid. To be precise about why: the Bihar Reorganisation Act, 2000 contains no clause invalidating anything already issued. What it does is carry the existing law forward, at Section 84 on the territorial extent of laws and Section 85 on the power to adapt them, with Section 88 substituting the successor state in pending proceedings. Nothing in the Act turns a Bihar certificate into a wrong one because the district now sits in Jharkhand. The problem arises only when the name differs across the two eras, and one gazette notification gives every office a single version, valid in both states.
JAC and university records
The Jharkhand Academic Council in Ranchi, constituted under the Jharkhand Academic Council Act, 2002, which received the Governor's assent on 26 February 2003 and was notified on 4 March 2003, conducts the Secondary, Intermediate, Madhyama and Madarsa examinations and runs its own correction process for names on those certificates. Universities have theirs. A 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, and anyone who does is overselling.
Working outside the state
Jharkhand sends a large workforce to other states, and split records follow people who left before their documents were consistent. The Central Gazette handles this cleanly, because Part IV is valid everywhere in India. The whole file can be prepared and posted from wherever you are working, 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 three 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. The minor fee applies, commonly Rs 1,700 with the usual revision caveat, and both parents signing avoids objections later.
Marksheets, school and education records
How to change a name in the class 10 marksheet in Jharkhand झारखंड में 10वीं की मार्कशीट में नाम कैसे बदलें
How to change a name in a school record in Jharkhand झारखंड में स्कूल रिकॉर्ड में नाम कैसे बदलें
Education documents, and a name change after divorce
How to change a name in an education document in Jharkhand झारखंड में शिक्षा दस्तावेज़ में नाम कैसे बदलें
How to change your name after divorce in Jharkhand झारखंड 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 Jharkhand 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: what it wants on the record and in what order. Send us any departmental circular and we build the file around it.
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, JAC and passport records all follow
- A clan or family name recorded in the form you chose, not the form a clerk guessed
- 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 Jharkhand applications rejected?
Every one of these is avoidable, and every one costs the fee again, because it is not refundable.
In the file itself
- Newspaper details that do not match the affidavit, even by one letter, initial or space. This single issue causes more failures than everything else combined
- A clan or family name spelled one way on the affidavit and another way in the notice
- 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
Because of bad advice online
- Arranging a demand draft instead of paying on BharatKosh
- Collecting genealogical papers or a court order that no gazette office asked for, and losing weeks doing it
- Travelling to a state office to submit a personal name change that is not accepted there
- Waiting for a printed gazette by courier, when hard copies ceased on 1 October 2015
- Paying a website a retrieval fee for a PDF that is a free public record
Should you do it yourself or take professional help?
You can do the whole thing alone, entirely by post, and no lawyer is required.
| Point of comparison | Doing it yourself | Using Documentadvisor |
|---|---|---|
| Money out | Rs 2,500 to Rs 6,000, if nothing goes wrong | Government charge plus a quoted service charge |
| Your time | A notary visit, two newspaper bookings, the Delhi file, and the follow-up | About 30 minutes of sending scans and confirming the wording |
| The Jharkhand specific risk | Not the paperwork, the information around it: weeks spent collecting genealogical papers nobody asked for, a trip to a state office that cannot take your file, or a monthly subscription for a one time job | We work from the Department's own guidelines, and tell you what to ignore |
| The judgement call | Which exact written form of your name to declare, especially where a clan name and a school name disagree | We settle that first, in writing, then draft around it |
| Risk of paying twice | The 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 drafted |
| Best if | A plain change, one clear spelling, records already consistent | A passport, a visa, a JAC or university record, Bihar era certificates, or a clan name that varies across documents |
The trade is time and error risk. In Jharkhand there is a second risk worth naming: the volume of wrong information online means people spend weeks collecting papers the Department never asked for, or pay a recurring charge for a single application. A consultant settles the spelling question, prepares the affidavit and notice wording, assembles the file and tracks it to publication. You can compare the whole range of name change services before deciding. Since the Department 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 agent actually does
Name change agent in Jharkhand झारखंड में नेम चेंज एजेंट
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 guidelines
Not from a search result. In a state where ranking pages move a Delhi office into Jharkhand and invent a Union ministry, that single habit prevents most of the wasted weeks and wasted money.
One exact spelling, agreed in writing
We send you the exact wording, letter by letter, including the clan name and the spacing, and wait for your written confirmation before anything is typed or booked. The 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 never as a monthly subscription. We do not charge you to retrieve a published gazette, because that is a free public record.
One advisor, start to finish
The same person handles your file from the first scan to the published notification, on the same number you first called. You never repeat your case to somebody new.
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 including the clan name if you use one, your district and where the name has to be accepted, then send clear scans.
Schedule
We confirm the exact spelling with you in writing, draft the affidavit, then schedule the Hindi and English notices and assemble the Delhi file with the BharatKosh payment.
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 Jharkhand
How can I change my name legally in Jharkhand?
Make a notarised affidavit, publish the change in two newspapers, one Hindi and one English, then apply to the Central Gazette of India in Delhi with the prescribed proforma and the BharatKosh fee. Your notification in Part IV on egazette.gov.in is the legal proof.
Is there a gazette office in Jharkhand for name change?
Not for a personal name change. The state gazette carries Government notifications, and name change gazette notifications for citizens were reported stopped in July 2025. The Department of Publication is at Civil Lines, Delhi 110054, and your file reaches it by post or courier.
What is the Government fee for a gazette name change?
Commonly Rs 1,100 for adults and Rs 1,700 for minors, paid only through bharatkosh.gov.in. The Department of Publication revises the fee each financial year, so confirm the current amount on deptpub.gov.in before paying, and remember it is not refundable.
Do I need a court order to change my surname?
No. An ordinary surname change needs the affidavit, newspaper and gazette stages. Pages describing genealogical records, census extracts, affidavits from relatives and court orders are describing a process that does not apply here.
Which newspapers do I need for the notice?
One Hindi daily and one English daily that genuinely circulate in your district. Hindi is the official language of Jharkhand, so the Hindi requirement is correct here, unlike in several states where copied guides get the language wrong.
How many days does a gazette name change take?
Publication takes about 30 to 45 days after your file reaches the Department of Publication, and the whole process runs 3 to 7 weeks. There is no expedited option, so a paid fast track is somebody's own turnaround, not the Department's.
Start your Jharkhand name change today
Tell us your old name, the complete new name you want including any clan or family name, your district and where the name has to be accepted. We will tell you 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 Jharkhand
The questions we are asked on the phone every day.
Do I have to submit my application physically somewhere in Jharkhand?
Can I publish my name change in the Jharkhand state gazette?
Which newspapers should I use for the notices?
Do I need genealogical records or affidavits from relatives?
My clan name is spelled differently across my documents. What fixes it?
My school name and my home name are different. Which one goes in the gazette?
My certificates were issued by Bihar before 2000. Are they still valid?
How do I pay the gazette fee?
Will I get a printed gazette certificate by post?
Can a gazette alone correct my JAC certificate?
My birth certificate has a spelling mistake. Do I need the gazette?
I work in another state, or abroad. Can I apply from there?
I am a Government employee. Is my process different?
Are the Rs 999 offers real, and is a monthly subscription needed?
How old can my documents be, and is the fee refundable?
People also search for: gazette office in Ranchi, gazette of Jharkhand name change, name change after marriage in Jharkhand, deed poll in India, name change agent in Jharkhand, name change fees in Jharkhand, tribal surname correction gazette Jharkhand, gazette name change for minor in Jharkhand, JAC certificate name correction, name change in Jamshedpur Dhanbad Bokaro.
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.
- 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.
- BharatKosh, the Non-Tax Receipt PortalThe only accepted channel for the Central Gazette fee. Demand drafts and direct transfers were discontinued.
- The Bihar Reorganisation Act, 2000 (Act 30 of 2000)Section 3 formed Jharkhand from eighteen districts of Bihar, Section 2 left the appointed day to a Gazette notification, and Sections 84, 85 and 88 carry the existing law forward. Nothing in it invalidates a certificate already issued.
- Jharkhand e-Gazette portalThe state gazette, run by the Directorate of Printing and Stationery, in Ordinary and Extraordinary series. Government notifications, not citizen name changes.
- Jharkhand Academic Council, RanchiConstituted under the Jharkhand Academic Council Act, 2002, assented 26 February 2003 and notified 4 March 2003. Its own correction process governs names on JAC certificates.
- 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 Jharkhand official portalDepartment listings and district information for all 24 districts across five divisions.
The short version
Everything on this page in ten lines
- Jharkhand residents use the Central Gazette. There is no counter in the state for a personal name change, and the file travels to Delhi by post.
- Jharkhand news outlets reported in July 2025 that citizen name change gazette notifications were stopped with immediate effect after irregularity and corruption cases. Pages describing a state route were written before that.
- Three stages: a notarised affidavit, two newspaper notices in one Hindi and one English daily, then the Central Gazette file posted to Civil Lines, Delhi 110054.
- Hindi is correct in Jharkhand. It is the official language of the State, so the instruction that misleads readers in several other states holds true here.
- The fee is commonly Rs 1,100 adult and Rs 1,700 minor, on BharatKosh only, revised each financial year and not refundable. Demand drafts are dead.
- The Department of Publication is in Civil Lines, North Delhi, under the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs. Not North Jharkhand, and there is no Ministry of Home and Urban Affairs.
- No genealogical records, no census extracts, no affidavits from relatives and no court order for an ordinary name or surname change.
- Plan 3 to 7 weeks and Rs 2,500 to Rs 6,000. There is no expedited option, and a name change is a one time application, never a monthly subscription.
- Where a clan name, a school name and an identity document disagree, one gazette declaration of a single exact form fixes all of them at once.
- A birth certificate mistake is a Registrar correction under Section 15 of the RBD Act, 1969, through the Nagar Nigam, Nagar Parishad or gram panchayat.
Change your name once, and change it properly
Send us your documents on WhatsApp today. We will tell you exactly what the file needs, the total cost and the timeline before you pay anything. Ranchi, Jamshedpur, Dhanbad, Bokaro, Deoghar, Dumka and every Jharkhand district.