The Civil Registration System (CRS) is administered by the Office of the Registrar General & Census Commissioner of India and implemented by State Directorates of Census Operations under the Registration of Births and Deaths Act 1969 (amended 2023). Registration is now mandatory and centralised on the national CRS portal — every birth and death certificate carries a unique national reference number. Citizens, employers, schools, passport offices and courts verify certificate authenticity by entering the registration number, date of event and place of registration. Digitally-signed PDFs are downloadable for events registered after the State has migrated to the national portal.