Uttarakhand: A Year Since Implementation, Nearly 5L People Have Applied For Marriage Registration Under UCC

By Rohit Kumar Soni

Dehradun: It's been almost a year since the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) was implemented in Uttarakhand. During this period, nearly 5,00,000 people have applied for registration under the UCC. According to government data, a majority of applications are for registration of marriages, the number of which continues to increase.

Despite this, the UCC server is yet to be boosted, which often causes difficulties for the general public. What is the status of registration applications in these past 12 months? How many people have applied for each type of registration? What is the status of the UCC server?

Implementation Of UCC In Uttarakhand

The UCC has been in effect since January 27, 2025, when Uttarakhand became the first state in India to implement UCC into law.

Timeline of UCC (ETV Bharat)

In the initial stages, there was very little interest among the people in getting themselves registered. There was also a lot of political rhetoric over how to register live-in relationships. However, over time, people's interest in the registration of marriages and live-in relationships, as well as other types of registration, has increased.

District-Wise Application Status For UCC Registrations:

Significantly, a majority of the applications received are for marriage registration. So far, 4,08,244 applications have been received for marriage registration, of which 3,89,125 marriage certificates have been issued.

Application Status For Different Kinds Of Registrations Under UCC:

Fee Waiver For Marriage Registrations Till January 26

To encourage more people to register, the Uttarakhand government had initially waived the registration fees from June 6 to July 26, 2025, granting an exemption for marriages that took place after March 27, 2010 and before January 27, 2025. But with the enthusiasm seen among people for marriage registration, it was extended for another six months, till January 26, 2026, along with other benefits added to the scheme.

The following facilities are available to the public under the Uniform Civil Code:

1. Marriage Registration.
2. Acceptance of Registered Marriage.
3. Registration of Divorce/Annulment of Marriage.
4. Live-in Relationship Registration.
5. Termination of Live-in Relationship.
6. Intestate Succession - Declaration of Legal Heirs.
7. Testamentary Succession - Registration of Will.
8. Registration of Codicil.
9. Registration of Revocation of Will/Codicil or Registration of Revival of a previously revoked Will/Codicil.
10. Final declaration of Will/Codicil/Revival/Revocation.

Increased Public Interest Due To Free Registration

After the implementation of the UCC in the state, a fee of Rs 250 was fixed for registration. Marriage registration was also made mandatory for marriages that took place after March 27, 2010, and before January 27, 2025. Registration was also made mandatory for live-in relationships. In the initial stages, the public's interest in marriage registration was quite low, due to which the registration fee was waived and made free.

Along with this, registration of divorce or marriage dissolution decrees issued before the implementation of the UCC, until January 26, 2026, has also been made free of charge. Thus, people can register without any fee. However, a service charge of Rs 50 will have to be paid to the Common Service Centre (CSC) for registration through them.

Problems Due To Frequent Server Downtime

Although public interest in registration continues to rise, applicants continue to complain about the unreliability of the UCC portal's server. Just recently, it was down for about 20 days.

Although that glitch has now been fixed, given the increasing number of registration applications on the UCC portal, there is a need to increase the server's capacity, to eliminate public harassment from frequent server downtimes. Currently, the server is being provided by Information Technology Development Agency (ITDA), Dehradun. The Home Department is in discussions with the ITDA over increasing server capacity.

Awareness Campaigns Being Conducted

Talking to ETV Bharat about the implementation of the UCC in the state, Uttarakhand UCC Registrar-General V Shanmugam said, "UCC was implemented in Uttarakhand on January 27, 2025. Since then, 4,98,688 people have applied for registration. Nodal officers have been appointed at every district to review the work of registrars and sub-registrars."

He added that the application format has been simplified, leading to a significant increase in applications. Extensive publicity and awareness campaigns are being conducted to reach every citizen. Camps are being organised as part of a public outreach programme to educate people. Continuous efforts are being made to achieve 100 per cent registration.

He also mentioned that a considerable number of applications have been received for live-in relationships, of which 68 have been approved, saying their aim is to encourage as many people as possible to register. "For this purpose, camps are being set up in villages. The waiver of registration fees has led to a significant increase in interest among people," he added.

Regarding issues faced by applicants due to the unreliability of the UCC server, the Registrar-General said some OTP-related problems were encountered recently. "Since the UCC portal is operated through a central server, some difficulties were observed, but these issues have now been resolved. Work is underway to increase the server capacity."

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