Name Change Service in Bengaluru

Published sources disagree, and we will not pretend otherwise. One gives an address on Mysore Road, another refers to Peenya on one of its own pages. The portal and the publishing department are not in dispute; the walk-in address is. Telephone the department before you travel.

What is settled, and safe to rely on

The Karnataka Gazette, also called the e-Rajyapatra, is administered by the Department of Printing, Stationery and Publications, and it is published online and daily. The notices go in one English daily and one Kannada daily. The affidavit is on non-judicial stamp paper and notarised. Identity proof, address proof, photographs and original newspaper pages are required. Submitted documents are not returned. None of that is in dispute anywhere, and the section below sets out the portal and the department in full.

What is genuinely disputed

Two things, and only two. The walk-in address, where one site gives Mysore Road and another gives Peenya on its own pages. And whether a personal application is accepted online or only over a counter, where the same site describes three different routes. The wide range of quoted timelines follows from that second question, because the answer differs depending on which route you are actually put on.

What we do about it

We confirm the current address, the accepted mode of submission and the present fee with the department before anything is filed, for your specific case, rather than repeating a figure from a page nobody has checked. If you are doing this yourself, do the same: telephone before you travel, and do not take a walk-in address from a blog, including this one.

• Wrong: approach BBMP, or you must live within BBMP limits to apply. Right: BBMP was dissolved on 2 September 2025. A residency rule quoted against a body that no longer exists tells you when that page was last checked.
• Wrong: the gazette office for Karnataka is at Civil Lines, Karnataka 110054. Right: 110054 is a Delhi PIN code. There is exactly one Central Gazette office, the Department of Publication at Civil Lines, Delhi 110054. No Civil Lines gazette office exists in Karnataka.
• Wrong: file your application with the Controller of Publications, Karnataka. Right: no such office exists for this state. The state publisher is the Department of Printing, Stationery and Publications.
• Wrong: Karnataka has no state gazette route for a personal name change. Right: the state e-Gazette publishes daily and is searchable online.
• Wrong: submit the gazette application at the Deputy Commissioner's office. Right: gazette publication is handled by the printing and publications department, not the DC office.
• Wrong: Government fees run to Rs 3,000 or Rs 5,000. Right: the Central fee is commonly Rs 1,100 for an adult and Rs 1,700 for a minor. Anything above that is a service charge or a newspaper charge, and it should be itemised for you separately.
• Wrong: pay the Government fee by demand draft or at a cash counter. Right: the Central fee goes through bharatkosh.gov.in only. Demand drafts are not accepted.
• Wrong: your notice goes in Part IV of the Karnataka gazette. Right: Part IV belongs to the Gazette of India. The Karnataka Gazette has its own numbering.
• Wrong: a birth certificate spelling error is fixed by a gazette. Right: that is a Registrar correction under Section 15 of the Registration of Births and Deaths Act, 1969, at the body that registered the birth.

None of this is a dig at anybody. Every one of these errors is what happens when a page is written once and never revisited. Ours will go out of date too, which is why the review date sits at the bottom and why we would rather you checked us.

This is worth saying plainly, because a surprising number of people in this city believe the Central Gazette is somehow for other states. It is not. It is open to every resident of India, it is filed the same way from Bengaluru as from anywhere else, and it is the version of the document that nobody argues with.

Why it matters more in Bengaluru than the general advice suggests.

Step 1: Confirm this is the route you need

Before anything is drafted, we check what you are actually trying to satisfy. A passport, a visa, an out of state board, a central employer or an overseas filing means Central. Only Karnataka records and a Karnataka employer means the state route is worth pricing. This five minute question saves the whole fee, because the fee is not refundable if you file the wrong one.

Step 2: Settle the exact name in writing

The full detail is in the process section, and it is the step people rush. Fix the spelling, the spacing and the initials against whichever document is hardest to change, and if a passport is coming, decide now what goes in the given name field and what in the surname field. Aadhaar allows only two name changes in a lifetime, so this is decided once.

Step 3: Swear the notarised affidavit

On non-judicial stamp paper, before a notary, stating your existing name, your new name, your father's or husband's name, your full address and the reason. Article 4 of the Karnataka Stamp Act, 1957 puts the duty at Rs 20, though most Bengaluru notaries will hand you Rs 100 paper. The wording has to match what will appear in the newspapers and on the proforma, letter for letter.

Step 4: Publish in one English and one Kannada daily

Identical text in both, worded exactly as the affidavit reads. Book classified text rather than classified display, keep the complete original pages rather than cuttings, and read the proof before it prints. A notice that publishes with an error has to run again at your own cost.

Step 5: Assemble the file for the Department of Publication

This is the part that gets applications returned, so here is the complete list. The file goes by post or courier to the Department of Publication, Civil Lines, behind Delhi Vidhan Sabha Metro Station, Delhi 110054. There is exactly one such office in the country.

• The original newspaper pages carrying your notices, complete sheets with the masthead and date visible
• The notice for Part IV, showing parentage and residential address, forwarded in original
• A signed undertaking showing the old and new name with full parentage and address
• Two copies of the prescribed proforma, computer typed, signed and attested, carrying two witnesses' details
• The print matter without the witness portion, in MS Word, as a soft copy
• A certificate signed by you that the hard copy and the soft copy say the same thing
• Self-attested identity proof of the applicant and of each witness, plus two passport size photographs
• A request letter addressed to the Controller of Publications

Two details worth repeating. Witness details belong on the proforma, not on the affidavit. And the Department expects supporting documents not older than one year, so a proof you last refreshed in 2019 will not do.

Step 6: Pay the fee on BharatKosh

The Central fee is paid only through bharatkosh.gov.in, the Non-Tax Receipt Portal. Demand drafts are not accepted and neither is a cash counter. The fee is commonly Rs 1,100 for an adult, Rs 1,700 for a minor and Rs 3,500 for Indians applying from abroad, and the Department of Publication revises it each financial year, so confirm the figure on the day you pay. It is not refundable, which is why the file is checked before it goes rather than after.

Step 7: Publication in Part IV

Personal notices appear in Part IV of the Gazette of India, which belongs to the Central Gazette alone. The Karnataka Gazette has its own numbering, so a page telling you to ask for Part IV at a state office has confused the two. Publication commonly follows about 30 to 45 days after the file reaches Delhi. There is no expedited option and nobody sells one.

Step 8: Download the notification, free

Hard copies ceased on 1 October 2015. You download the PDF at no cost from egazette.gov.in and use Control and F to find your name. It needs no certification and no attestation. Nobody should charge you to fetch a published public record, and if someone offers to, that is a service charge and not a Government fee.

Step 9: Update your records in the right order

The notification is the middle of the journey. Aadhaar first, then PAN, then bank, then passport, then everything else, in the order set out in the update section. Each office asks for the one before it, which is why doing this out of order turns a four week job into a four month one.

Step 1: settle the exact name before anything is typed

Lay out your birth certificate, board certificates, Aadhaar, PAN, bank records and passport, and write down exactly how the name appears on each, including spacing, initials and any middle name. Then choose the version carried by whichever document is hardest to change, usually a board certificate or a live passport, and write it in block letters on a single piece of paper. Give that paper to everyone who types anything for you: the notary's typist, the newspaper agent, whoever fills the proforma.

If a passport is in view, decide the field split now. What goes in the given name field and what in the surname field becomes the name on every visa issued against that passport. That decision is effectively permanent, and it is worth ten minutes.

And remember the Aadhaar limit. UIDAI permits a name change only twice in a lifetime, and the update fee is charged per attempt and is not refunded if the request is rejected. Decide once.

Step 2: the affidavit

A notarised affidavit on non-judicial stamp paper, stating your existing name, your new name, your father's or husband's name, your full address and a clear reason for the change. Stamp paper values are commonly cited at Rs 20 or Rs 100 in Karnataka, but there is no single value that applies across India and the notary will tell you the correct denomination.

It should say what actually happened. A correction, where a clerk mistyped a letter, is not the same as a change, where you are adopting a different name. A typing mistake should not be declared as abandonment of your previous identity, because that creates a permanent record of something that never happened.

Read every field against your Aadhaar before you swear it, because once notarised it cannot be quietly edited. If it is wrong it has to be re-executed, and if the newspaper notices have already run on the strength of it, those go again too.

Step 3: newspaper notices

One English daily and one Kannada daily, both carrying identical text, worded exactly as the affidavit reads. English titles commonly used here include Deccan Herald, The Hindu and the Times of India. Kannada titles include Prajavani, Vijaya Karnataka, Vijayavani and Udayavani.

Book classified text, not classified display. A name change notice is a formality and needs no design or border. Classified text is charged per word or per line, most notices run three to six lines, and booking it correctly in a lower rate edition frequently saves more than a service fee. Long words that wrap onto a new line count as the whole line, so tight wording is free money.

Keep complete original pages, not cuttings. The gazette office wants the full sheet, because that is what carries the date and the masthead. Keep three to five of each paper, and scan them. And read the proof before it prints. If the notice publishes with an error, a fresh publication becomes necessary at your own cost. This check is free and it is the one people skip.

Step 4: file the application

For the Central route, the file goes by post or courier to the Department of Publication at Civil Lines, Delhi 110054. It runs to eight items, and getting one of them wrong is what sends an application back, so the complete checklist has its own section below.

Note where the witnesses go. On the proforma, not on the affidavit. In many states the affidavit needs only your signature and the notary's attestation. Keep every supporting document recent, since the Department expects papers not older than one year, and never send an original you could not obtain again, because documents once submitted are not returned.

For the state route, confirm the current submission mode and address with the Department of Printing, Stationery and Publications, for the reasons set out above.

Step 5: pay, publish and download

The Central fee is paid only through bharatkosh.gov.in, and demand drafts are not accepted. Publication in Part IV follows about 30 to 45 days after the file arrives. Hard copies ceased on 1 October 2015, so you download the PDF free from egazette.gov.in, using Control and F to find your name. It needs no certification, and nobody should charge you to fetch a public record.

Identity proof, a separate address proof, two or three passport size photographs, the notarised affidavit, and the complete original pages of both newspapers. Add a marriage certificate, a divorce decree or the child's birth certificate depending on your reason.

Three to seven weeks to publication on the Central route. The affidavit is same day, the newspaper notices often the next day, file preparation two to four days, then about 30 to 45 days for the Gazette of India to publish. There is no expedited option on any route.

Plan on three to seven weeks to publication on the Central route. For the Karnataka gazette, published figures range widely, so ask the department for the current turnaround rather than trusting a number from a blog. Updating your records afterwards takes weeks, at your own pace.

Bengaluru Central

Bengaluru North

Bengaluru South

Bengaluru East

Bengaluru West

And beyond

Everything runs by post or online, so your locality affects nothing except which corporation handles a municipal matter. We also work with applicants outside Bengaluru, because the Central Gazette process is identical across India.

Gazette notification

A formal announcement printed in the official journal of the Government. It is the public record that proves a name change happened, and it is what Aadhaar, PAN and the passport office accept.

Gazette of India

The Central Gazette, published by the Department of Publication at Civil Lines, Delhi 110054. Accepted everywhere in India and recognised by foreign missions.

Karnataka Gazette

The state gazette, also called the e-Rajyapatra, administered by the Department of Printing, Stationery and Publications. A separate publication with its own numbering, not a cheaper version of the Central one.

Part IV

The section of the Gazette of India that carries notices from people rather than from the Government. It belongs to the Central Gazette only.

Greater Bengaluru Authority

The apex body that has administered Bengaluru since 2 September 2025, with five City Corporations under it: Central, North, South, East and West.

Affidavit

A written statement you swear is true, signed before a notary public. It is the first step, and on its own it is not proof of a legal name change.

Non-judicial stamp paper

Government stamped paper used for affidavits and agreements. Values commonly cited in Karnataka are Rs 20 or Rs 100, and the notary will confirm the right denomination.

Classified text

The plain, priced-by-the-line newspaper advertisement format. This is what a name change notice needs. Classified display, with a border and design, costs far more and adds nothing.

BharatKosh

The Non-Tax Receipt Portal at bharatkosh.gov.in. It is the only accepted channel for the Central Gazette fee, and demand drafts are not accepted.

Khajane II

The Karnataka state payment gateway, also written K2, described by some sources as the payment route where the online state filing applies. Confirm with the department whether it applies to your case.

e-Gazette

The portal at egazette.gov.in where published Central notifications are searched and downloaded free of cost. Hard copies ceased on 1 October 2015.

Registrar correction

A correction to a birth or death record under Section 15 of the Registration of Births and Deaths Act, 1969, made by the body that registered the event. It is not a gazette matter.

This is the single most common thing people are sold wrongly. A birth certificate mistake is a Registrar correction under Section 15 of the Registration of Births and Deaths Act, 1969, made by the registrar or municipal body that issued the certificate. A gazette notification will not fix the entry in the birth register.

And in Bengaluru there is a second trap. This city is full of people born elsewhere. If your birth was registered in another state, the correction goes to that local body, not to any Bengaluru office, and usually by post. That is the commonest wasted journey we see.

Your process has an extra layer. Central Government employees follow the Ministry of Home Affairs Office Memorandum No. 190016/1/87-Estt.(A) dated 12 March 1987, which requires a deed of change of name, publication, and an application through the department so that the service book is updated. The gazette on its own does not change the service record.

Do one thing before you spend any money: ask your establishment or administration section what they require, in writing. Karnataka state Government employees follow their own departmental instructions, and armed forces, police and railway personnel usually have a service specific route on top of everything above.

If your case is one of those, ask us anyway and we will confirm it free. Sending somebody away with the right answer costs a fee and earns a recommendation, which over time is the better trade.

Is a name change legal in Bengaluru without a gazette?

You may use any name socially, but Government records need proof. Aadhaar, PAN, the passport office and most employers ask for the gazette notification. In a few cases, a registered marriage certificate or a divorce decree does the job instead, which is why the first question to ask is whether you need one at all.

Which of the five corporations covers my area?

It depends on your address, and formal demarcation of boundaries is continuing into 2026, with border areas potentially shifting between corporations. We check it at the point you need it rather than working from a list that may already have moved.

Do I need to visit any office in person?

For the Central route, no. The file goes by post and everything else is handled from home. For a Karnataka filing, confirm the current accepted mode with the department, because published sources describe three different routes.

Are Rs 999 all inclusive offers genuine?

The Central Government fee alone is commonly Rs 1,100, so an all inclusive Rs 999 cannot include it. Ask any provider to break out the Government fee separately, and ask what happens if the file is returned.

How much should the newspaper notices cost?

Far less than most people pay. A three to six line classified text notice in a lower rate edition costs a small fraction of what agencies typically quote, and that choice alone often saves more than a service fee.

Can I keep a cutting instead of the whole page?

No. The full sheet is required because it carries the date and the masthead. Keep three to five original pages of each newspaper, plus scans.

Will my documents be returned?

No. Documents once submitted are not returned, so never send an original you could not obtain again. Ask for extra copies of the notification at the application stage instead.

Can I change my name on my Class 10 certificate?

Boards generally do not alter Class 10 and 12 marksheets, and many people simply produce the certificate alongside the gazette. Ask the board what it accepts before assuming a correction is available.

My background check has failed. What should I tell my employer?

That a correction is in progress, with a realistic timeline covering both the gazette and any board correction. Most employers accept a documented process. Almost none accept surprises.

Does my gazette address matter?

Yes. UIDAI expects the address details in the gazette to match your Aadhaar address, so check your Aadhaar address before drafting the affidavit rather than after publication.

Do you help people outside Bengaluru?

Yes. The Central Gazette process is identical across India and runs by post, and we work with applicants in every state.