Marriage Registration in Maharashtra, Documents, Fees and Steps

Marriage registration in Maharashtra is compulsory under the Maharashtra Regulation of Marriage Bureaus and Registration of Marriages Act, 1998. The husband presents the memorandum to the local marriage registrar within 90 days of the wedding, and the couple and three witnesses sign in person. Late registration is still allowed with a small penalty.

In a city that means the municipal ward office. In a village it is the gram sevak at the gram panchayat.

Which Law Applies in Maharashtra

Maharashtra registers marriages in two ways, as the Inspector General of Registration (IGR) explains on its marriage registration page.

Section 20 of the 1998 Act keeps out marriages under the Special Marriage Act, the Indian Christian Marriage Act, 1872 and the Parsi Marriage and Divorce Act, 1936. So a church wedding or a Parsi wedding is registered under its own law, not at the ward office.

The full Act, as printed in the Maharashtra Government Gazette of 15 April 1999, is on PRS Legislative Research.

Is Marriage Registration Compulsory in Maharashtra

Yes. Section 4 of the 1998 Act says every marriage in the state must be registered, and section 6 gives the husband 90 days from the wedding to present the memorandum.

Missing the 90 days does not shut the door. Section 6(2) allows registration up to one year later with a penalty of not more than ₹100, and at any time after that with a penalty of not more than ₹500.

An unregistered marriage is still a valid marriage. Section 10 says so plainly. But section 12 allows a fine of up to ₹1,000 for not registering, and without the certificate you will struggle with the passport, a spouse visa or a bank nomination.

Where to Register

Register with the marriage registrar of the area where the husband or the wife ordinarily lives. Only marriages held in Maharashtra are registered under this Act.

In Pune, Nashik or Nagpur, call the ward office before you go. Ask which counter takes marriage registration and on which days the registrar sits.

How to Register a Marriage Online in Mumbai

The BMC (MCGM) has the clearest online system in the state. Its process page lists these steps.

1. Fill the marriage registration form on the MCGM portal and submit it. A registration number is generated.
2. Pay the scrutiny fee online. You get an appointment date and time.
3. Go to the ward office on that date with hard copies of every document. The couple must come with all three witnesses.
4. The registrar checks the papers and approves or rejects the application.
5. Pay the final fee online.
6. The receipt and the marriage certificate are sent to you, and the certificate PDF comes to your email.

Check every spelling before approval. BMC's instruction circular says no correction is made to the certificate once it is approved.

If the registrar puts your file on hold, you get two days to complete it. After that the application is rejected automatically, and you start again.

Documents and Witnesses for Maharashtra

The BMC checklist asks for these. Other offices ask for much the same.

1. Memorandum of marriage in Form D, signed by the couple, the three witnesses and the priest.
2. Age proof for both. The bride must be 18 and the groom 21. Any one of these works: school leaving certificate, birth certificate, SSC certificate, HSC certificate, passport, domicile certificate.
3. Residence proof for the husband and the wife.
4. PAN card or Aadhaar of both.
5. Address proof of all three witnesses.
6. The wedding invitation card. If there was no card, a joint declaration on ₹100 stamp paper.
7. The priest's name and signature on the form.
8. Photos. BMC asks for three of each spouse and one of each witness.
9. Divorce decree or the late spouse's death certificate, if either was married before.
10. For a Muslim couple, the nikahnama, with an English translation if it is in Urdu.

Carry originals and one set of self-attested photocopies. Witnesses must bring their own ID.

Fees and Late Fees

The fee is set by the 1999 rules and collected by the local body, so it changes a little from place to place. These are the figures in BMC's published guidelines.

The base fee figures come from a 2018 BMC document, and the tatkal and weekend charges from the current BMC page. Confirm the base fee at your ward office before you pay. In villages the state's 2015 public service notification lists the gram panchayat certificate at ₹20, issued in 5 working days.

How Long It Takes

In Mumbai the certificate can come the same day with tatkal, or after the appointment and final payment. Pimpri Chinchwad's citizen charter gives 15 days. A village gram panchayat should issue it within 5 working days under the Right to Public Services notification.

Special Marriage Act Route in Maharashtra

Under the Special Marriage Act, you give notice to the Marriage Officer 30 days before the marriage, and the marriage is done after those 30 days if nobody objects. Mumbai City, Mumbai Suburban and Pune have separate marriage offices. In other districts the sub-registrar office at the district headquarters handles it.

The IGR's procedure and fee sheet gives these fees:

The notice can be filed online on the IGR marriage portal, using Aadhaar of both parties. The online form captures a photo and a thumbprint, so you need a webcam and a fingerprint scanner at hand. The IGR sheet also notes that the officer asks for the fee only after checking the application. On the day, the couple and three witnesses sign before the Marriage Officer.

Couples who already had a religious wedding can also register it under section 16 of the same Act, at the office of the district where they have lived for at least 30 days. Our guide to the court marriage process has the full timeline.

Duplicate and Corrections

Ask the same registrar for a certified extract of the register if you lose the certificate. BMC lists ₹20 for this. Corrections are hard after approval in Mumbai, so read the draft slowly at the ward office. Check the names, the date of marriage and the address.

The bride's name on the certificate is the name she had at the wedding. If she plans to change her surname later, the certificate is the proof for that. See name change after marriage for the order to follow.

For other states and the general process, read our marriage registration guide for India.