To register marriage in Bengal, couple & witnesses must get biometrics recorded

KOLKATA: Marriage registrations in Bengal now require fingerprints of the couple and three witnesses, with the state making recording of biometrics mandatory for all marriages from November 1.
While applying for marriage, either the bride or the groom now needs to provide their biometric details. During registration, however, the couple and their three witnesses have to get their biometrics recorded.The marriage registrars will now be present with their laptops and fingerprint scanners.
In the first fortnight after the rollout of the policy, 5,768 marriage applications had been filed with biometric details till Wednesday, while over 2,700 marriages had been registered using biometrics.
A senior official said: "The state government had amended the marriage rules in 2022, making biometrics compulsory for marriage applications and registrations."

The implementation, however, started from this months after marriage registrars procured fingerprint scanners and were trained by master trainers across all sub-divisions in batches of 10-15. "The role of a marriage registrar is now very important. The registrars can now access the online marriage portal using their own biometric identity. Once logged in, the session will remain active for 30 minutes. Within this time, the fingerprints need to be uploaded," the official said.
"The physical signatures and identity documents as per earlier requirements will remain. Fingerprints will be an additional mandatory requirement," an official said.
For now, the new rule will be applicable only to marriages under the Hindu Marriage Act, 1954, and the Special Marriage Act, 1954. It is likely to be extended to marriages under all laws later.
The move to make biometrics mandatory came after the state decided to digitise all marriages from June 1, 2019.
"This will go a long way in eradicating cases of impersonation," said an officer. "The fingerprints captured will be encrypted and masked. This data cannot be accessed even if the marriage portal is hacked. There is no possibility of any identity theft."