Over 10,000 birth certificates in Mumbai corrected with zero documents in 2024-26, finds BMC probe

Mumbai: Nearly a month after an internal civic probe exposed irregularities in Mumbai’s birth and death registration system, BMC has found that more than 10,000 birth certificate corrections carried out between 2024 and 2026 had no supporting documents on record, raising further concerns in the registration process.The findings were discussed at a high-level meeting held on Thursday and chaired by Mumbai Mayor Ritu Tawde in the presence of civic health department officials and former BJP MP Kirit Somaiya, who has repeatedly flagged the alleged irregularities in issuance of birth certificates in the city.The internal probe scrutinised 86,020 birth certificate correction cases and found that documents were available in 75,776 cases, but none in 10,244 cases.Officials said BMC has initiated further scrutiny into the discrepancies and may recommend cancellation of such certificates through the chief registrar of the state govt if the irregularities are confirmed.“The corrections are largely linked to adult applicants and not newborns, students, or teenagers. Most cases pertain to changes sought in records of citizens aged 20 to 25 and above,” a civic official said.The official added that BMC has already started receiving queries from the Special Investigation Team (SIT) set up by Mumbai Police to probe discrepancies in birth certificate registrations. “We will share all details with the SIT to facilitate a speedy investigation,” the civic official said.At the meeting, Somaiya alleged that the absence of records in more than 10,000 cases pointed to “bogus registrations” and a potentially organised fraud. He questioned how corrections in permanent civic records could be processed without affidavits, applications or supporting documents.“CRS corrections were allegedly made without documents being taken on record. If there are zero documents, these certificates must be treated as bogus and cancelled,” Somaiya said.Calling the findings “shocking,” Tawde said she immediately directed officials to initiate action against certificates where no records were available. However, civic officials maintained that in some cases, documents may still be “yet to be traced” or uploaded. “A final decision would be taken only after detailed scrutiny,” a senior official said.The controversy stems from an internal report submitted to BMC Commissioner Ashwini Bhide on April 30. The report found that medical officers of health ( MOH) across several wards were making corrections not only in the mandatory Civil Registration System (CRS) portal, but also in the older SAP-CPWM system — BMC’s internal software — allegedly in violation of guidelines issued by the Registrar General of India.The probe earlier found that between 2024 and 2026, nearly 87,000 corrections were made through the SAP system, while only 33,772 corresponding entries were recorded on the official CRS portal, triggering concerns over unauthorised alterations in birth and death records.