Punjab’s Local Government and Community Development Department has digitized the province’s birth and death registration system, introducing new rules aimed at simplifying the registration process and improving access to civil registration services. According to the newly notified regulations, the digital registration system will become fully operational on August 1, allowing citizens to register births and deaths through an online platform.
Under the revised framework, births and deaths can be registered free of charge for up to seven years from the date of occurrence, with the government also issuing computerized birth and death certificates at no cost during this period. As part of the reforms, the department has abolished all registration fees for cases reported within seven years and eliminated the requirement for obtaining a court decree for delayed registrations, a change intended to make the process faster and more accessible for families.
The new rules also establish a tiered approval structure based on the age of the case being registered. Secretaries of the relevant Union Councils will be authorized to register births of children up to one year of age, while registrations involving children older than one year and up to seven years will require approval from the Assistant Director. Cases involving individuals whose births or deaths are being registered more than seven years after the fact will be processed by the relevant Deputy Director, creating a clearer chain of authority depending on how delayed a given registration is.
The digitization initiative forms part of the Punjab government’s broader effort to modernize public services, reduce reliance on paperwork, and provide citizens with a more efficient and transparent civil registration system. The move adds to a series of digital governance reforms Punjab has rolled out in recent years across departments ranging from transport to identity documentation, reflecting a continued push toward reducing manual processes and expanding online access to essential government services ahead of the new system’s August 1 launch date.
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