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Name Change Procedure in Odisha (2026)

A clear, step-by-step guide to legally changing your name in Odisha. Affidavit, the one-newspaper notice, the Odisha e-Gazette and Central Gazette routes, real fees, the full document list and what is actually verifiable, done from home in Bhubaneswar, Cuttack, Rourkela, Berhampur or Sambalpur.

Written by the YourDoorstep Documentation Team  ·  Updated 28 August 2026  ·  35 min read
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Video guide

Watch: Name Change Procedure in Odisha

A quick walkthrough of the documents, the affidavit and how to change your name legally in Odisha.

In this video, the YourDoorstep team explains the documents you need to change your name in Odisha, the real fees, and how we handle the whole process at your doorstep.

Changing your name is a big step. Maybe you just got married, you are fixing a spelling mistake in your school certificate, or you want a fresh start after a divorce. Whatever the reason, the name change procedure in Odisha follows a clear legal path, and Odisha has a genuinely useful online gazette system. This guide breaks down both routes in plain words, and shows how to get it done from home, whether you live in Bhubaneswar, Cuttack, Rourkela, Berhampur or Sambalpur.

Quick Answer

To change your name in Odisha, make a notarised affidavit, publish the notice in one newspaper, then apply for a gazette notification. You can use the Odisha e-Gazette online (egazette.odisha.gov.in), where you apply, pay after approval and download the gazette, or the Central Gazette (Rs 1,100 adult, Rs 1,700 minor) for pan-India validity. It can all be done from home.

Definition: A gazette notification is an official notice published in the Government Gazette that turns your name change into a public, legally recognised record, accepted by the passport office, banks, UIDAI and government departments across India.

Odisha name change at a glance

Steps
Affidavit → newspaper ad → gazette notification
Two routes
Odisha e-Gazette (online) or Central Gazette
State portal
egazette.odisha.gov.in
Central fee
Rs 1,100 adult, Rs 1,700 minor (BharatKosh)
State fee
From Rs 529 for a one-page notice, paid after approval
Newspapers
One daily, no language prescribed

Key takeaways

  • The process has three steps: notarised affidavit, newspaper ad, then gazette notification.
  • Odisha runs its own online e-Gazette with a dedicated change of name and surname service (egazette.odisha.gov.in).
  • On the Odisha e-Gazette you apply online, pay after approval, and download the published gazette from the portal.
  • Any Odisha resident can also use the Central Gazette, valid all over India and abroad, best for passports and central jobs.
  • Central Gazette fee: Rs 1,100 adult, Rs 1,700 minor, paid on BharatKosh.
  • Newspaper: one daily, full page or e-Paper page.
  • Read every letter of the notice before you keep the page, since spelling gaps are the top cause of rejection.
Choose the right route

Odisha e-Gazette vs Central Gazette

This is the choice that matters most, and Odisha is unusually well set up for it. Several states either have no citizen gazette route at all or restrict it to government servants; Odisha's portal says the opposite in as many words, that the service is there "to provide hassle-free services to all residents of Odisha." It works fully online and has a dedicated change of name and surname service. The Central Gazette is run by the Government of India in Delhi and is the standard for passports and work abroad.

Name change procedure in Odisha: the Odisha e-Gazette route compared with the Central Gazette route
PointOdisha e-Gazette (State)Central Gazette of India
Run byGovernment of OdishaDepartment of Publication, Government of India, Delhi
How you applyFully online through egazette.odisha.gov.in. Open to residents of OdishaFile sent to Civil Lines, Delhi, by post, courier or in person. Agents are not permitted to file it
Who checks itCommerce and Transport Department, then the Government Press publishesDepartment of Publication
TimelineNone published. We could not find it in the Odisha Right to Public Services Act notified-services list, so no statutory clockNone guaranteed; Part IV is issued weekly on a Saturday
Government feePer page of the notice: pages × Rs 529, as set out in the state's citizen manual. No adult or minor split. Paid after approval.Rs 1,100 adult, Rs 1,700 minor. Rs 3,500 and Rs 5,100 for Indians living abroad (BharatKosh)
Published inThe Odisha Gazette (downloaded from the portal)The Gazette of India (Part IV)
Commonly used forRecords within Odisha. We found no rule limiting a state gazette to its own state, but offices elsewhere are less used to seeing itAll of India and abroad, accepted without argument
Best forA state-level record within OdishaPassport, PAN, banks, PSU jobs, abroad
Simple rule: if your new name is mainly for records inside Odisha, the e-Gazette is quick and convenient. If it has to work on a passport, a central job or anything abroad, use the Central Gazette from the start, so you do not have to repeat the process.
Read this first

Do You Actually Need a Gazette in Odisha?

A large share of people who go looking for a gazette notification do not need one. The Government of Odisha now says so on the front page of its own gazette portal, and we would rather tell you before you spend the money.

Following a decision taken on 28 November 2025 in the Chief Secretary's Conference Hall, the e-Gazette portal carries this instruction on its home page, in English and in Odia. We read it there on 28 August 2026:

"Applicants are instructed not to apply for Gazette Notification in cases of corrections in Aadhaar card such as typo mistakes, transliteration errors, regional language related name updates, marriage/divorce/adoption related name changes, append/edit initials, or change in name sequence, as these do not require Gazette publication as per UIDAI SOP (28.10.2021). Applicants are advised to apply for Gazette Notification only in cases of full/first-name change (e.g., Pankaj Kumar → Abhinay K Singh)."

What you want to fixGazette needed?
A typing mistake in your Aadhaar nameNo, correct it directly with UIDAI
An Odia-to-English transliteration differenceNo
Updating the name in a regional languageNo
Surname change after marriage, divorce or adoption, for AadhaarNo, for the Aadhaar update itself
Adding, removing or editing initialsNo
Changing the order of your nameNo
Changing your first name or your whole nameYes
An honest caveat. This instruction is about Aadhaar. A passport re-issue, a bank, a school board or an employer can still ask for a gazette even where UIDAI would not, and a gazette remains the cleanest single document to prove a name change across many offices at once. So the question is not only "does Aadhaar need it" but "how many other records will ask." If you are only fixing Aadhaar, start with UIDAI. If your name has to change everywhere, the gazette is still worth doing once and doing properly.
Where to file

Odisha Gazette Office

The Odisha State Gazette is published by the Directorate of Printing, Stationery and Publication, whose office is at Madhupatna, Cuttack-753010. The Odisha Government Press there has run since 1936 and serves the whole state. The good part: the name change service is fully online at egazette.odisha.gov.in, and the portal's own citizen manual describes it as a platform for applying "without physical visit to the Dept./Govt. Press." You register with your mobile number and email, verify a one-time password, set your own password and apply. You will read elsewhere that the portal uses Aadhaar e-Sign; the live registration form asks only for your name, your father's or husband's name, a mobile number and an email address. Per the portal's citizen user manual, your file is then checked by the Commerce and Transport Department, the department the Directorate sits under, before the Government Press publishes it, and you pay through IFMS only after it is approved. The Central Gazette file goes to the Department of Publication, Civil Lines, Delhi-110054, and is downloaded from egazette.gov.in (Part IV, which carries a Saturday issue date, though the PDF is often uploaded some days after that; the PDF needs no certification or stamp).

Watch out for a common error: some pages print the Central Gazette office as "Civil Lines, Odisha-110054". That pincode is a Delhi one, and there is no such Odisha office. The Central Gazette office is in Civil Lines, Delhi, while the state route is the fully online Odisha e-Gazette.
Good news

Change Your Name Without Going Anywhere

Yes. A legal name change in India runs on paperwork, not office visits. The Odisha e-Gazette is online, so you apply, pay and download from home.

For the Central Gazette route, the file must reach the Department of Publication in Delhi, and there is one rule about this that most service pages quietly skip. The Department's own guidelines say: "Application either submitted personally or sent by Post/Courier only will be entertained. No other channel is permissible viz Agents, Advocates, etc." So nobody can walk your file in for you, and you should be wary of anyone who says they will. What we actually do is the work around the filing: we draft the affidavit, get the wording of the newspaper notice right, assemble the proforma and the annexures in the order the Department expects, and pay the BharatKosh fee. The file then goes in your own name, personally or by post or courier, and we track it and send you the gazette PDF when it is published.

The process

The 3 Legal Steps

The middle step, the newspaper notice, is the same on both routes. The first and third differ more than most pages admit: Odisha wants a notarised affidavit, while the Department of Publication’s list asks instead for a signed undertaking and a typed proforma witnessed by two people.

Infographic: name change procedure in Odisha, showing when a gazette is not needed, the Odisha e-Gazette versus Central Gazette routes with verified fees, the three legal steps, the documents to upload, and where each record is updated afterwards
The whole Odisha name change, on one page: what needs a gazette, what each route costs, and where every record actually goes afterwards.
1

Make the affidavit

A short legal statement on stamp paper declaring your old name, new name, address and the reason, signed before a notary.

2

Publish in newspapers

Announce the change in one newspaper. Keep the full original pages as proof.

3

Get the gazette

Apply online through the Odisha e-Gazette, or send the Central file to Delhi, then download the gazette.

Step 1: Make the name change affidavit

An affidavit is a short legal statement on non-judicial stamp paper. It declares that you have changed your name from the old name to the new name, with the reason, along with your address and parent's or spouse's name. You sign it in front of a notary. The Odisha portal prescribes no stamp value at all, its affidavit formats carry no denomination and ask only that the affidavit be sworn before an Executive Magistrate or Notary Public. Notaries in Odisha use low-value non-judicial stamp paper; ask yours what value applies on the day rather than trusting a figure off a website.

Step 2: Publish the notice in one newspaper

You announce the name change in one newspaper. For Odia you can use Sambad, Dharitri, Samaja or Prameya. For English you can use The New Indian Express, The Telegraph or The Times of India. The notice should carry your old name, new name, address and the affidavit date. Keep the full newspaper pages.

Step 3: Get the gazette notification

For the Odisha e-Gazette, you register on egazette.odisha.gov.in with your mobile number and email, verify the one-time password and set a password. The application asks for your state, district, block or ULB, address and PIN code, and two questions that change what else you must attach: whether you are a government employee, and whether the applicant is a minor. Then you upload the affidavit, the full newspaper or e-Paper page, and your photo identity and address proof. On the file formats the government's own documents do not agree: the service page says to attach the identity and address proof documents "in a single PDF," while the citizen manual says all documents must be uploaded "in the form of images (Scanned copy in PNG/JPG) only and maximum of 5 MB in size." Follow whatever the upload box in front of you asks for, and keep both formats ready. Your file goes to the Commerce and Transport Department for checking; if something is missing it comes back to you with remarks and you resubmit. Only once it is approved does the portal ask you to pay, through IFMS. For the Central Gazette, the file goes to the Department of Publication, Civil Lines, Delhi-110054, with a typed proforma, two witnesses, a soft copy on CD, ID proof, photos and the BharatKosh fee receipt, and it is printed in Part IV of the Gazette of India, downloaded from egazette.gov.in.

A quick note on order: the affidavit always comes first, because both the newspaper ad and the gazette file copy their details from it.
One-year rule most people miss: the Department of Publication does not accept documents older than one year. If your affidavit or newspaper pages cross a year before you file, you will have to make them fresh, so complete the three steps without a long gap. Documents once submitted are not returned, and the gazette fee is non-refundable, so keep copies and pay only through the official portal (IFMS for the Odisha e-Gazette, BharatKosh for the Central Gazette).
Checklist

Documents Required for Name Change in Odisha

Keep these ready. Missing or mismatched papers are the top reason files get held up.

DocumentOdisha e-GazetteCentral Gazette
Notarised affidavit, sworn before an Executive Magistrate or Notary PublicYes, official format on the portalNot on the list. The Department's requirement is the signed proforma and undertaking below, not an affidavit
Undertaking duly signed by the applicantNoneYes, item (i) of the guidelines. Most service pages omit this
Newspaper noticeOne paper. Full newspaper or e-Paper page. No language prescribedOne paper. The original newspaper, item (ii), not a photocopy
Prescribed proforma, in duplicate, typed, signed by you and two witnessesNoneYes, item (iii)
CD with the print matter in MS Word, without the witness portionNoneYes, item (iv)
Two self-attested passport photos + self-attested ID proof copyPhoto ID for the old nameYes, item (v)
Certificate signed by you that the hard copy and soft copy are identicalNoneYes, item (vi). Also widely omitted
Request letter with the feeNoneYes, item (vii)
Address proof showing an Odisha addressYesCovered by the ID proof
Fee receiptIFMS challan, paid after approvalBharatKosh receipt, paid before filing
Government servants: office approval or NOC + Deed Changing Name/Surname formYes, if applicableFollow your department's rules
Minors: age proof naming the applicant as parent or legal guardianYes, if applicableYes, if applicable
Marriage certificate / divorce papersIf applicableIf applicable
The four everyone forgets. Items (i), (ii), (vi) and (vii), the undertaking, the original newspaper, the hard-copy/soft-copy certificate and the request letter, are in the Department of Publication's own numbered list, and almost no service page reproduces them. A file missing any of them comes back, and by then your one-year clock has been running.

If you are from Odisha but living abroad and using the Central route, the guidelines require the deed to be attested by the Indian Embassy or High Commission of that country, submitted in original. We have found no equivalent requirement for the Odisha state route, so do not pay for embassy attestation on a state filing without asking the portal first.

Real costs

Name Change Fees in Odisha (2026)

Two costs sit inside a name change: the government publication fee, and the side costs like stamp paper, notary and the newspaper notice, which vary. Odisha and Delhi price it in completely different ways, which is worth understanding before you choose a route.

ItemCost
Odisha e-Gazette feeCharged per page of the notice. The Government of Odisha citizen manual gives the calculation as pages × Rs 529 (its own worked example: 2 × 529 = Rs 1,058). A one-page notice is the usual case. The Press sets the page count when it typesets your notice, so check the amount the portal quotes you before you pay. Paid through IFMS after approval.
Central Gazette fee (adult)Rs 1,100 (BharatKosh) - see the note below on how the Department dates these rates
Central Gazette fee (minor)Rs 1,700 (BharatKosh)
Adopting a name of another religion, without changing religion (Central)Rs 1,100 + Rs 250 = Rs 1,350. You also sign a declaration that you are not changing your religion. (A general undertaking is required of every adult applicant anyway, see the checklist)
Central Gazette fee (Indians living abroad)Rs 3,500 adult, Rs 5,100 minor, as per the Department of Publication guidelines (BharatKosh)
Stamp paper and notaryVaries. The portal prescribes no stamp value; ask your notary. Be sceptical of any site quoting an exact figure without a source
Newspaper notice (one paper)Varies by paper and city
A note on the Central figures. Rs 1,100, Rs 1,700, Rs 3,500 and Rs 5,100 are the amounts the Department of Publication publishes today, and they are what applicants are charged. But the guideline documents still carry their original validity line, "w.e.f. 01/04/2016 to 31/03/2017," and have not been reissued with a newer date. We would rather show you that than pretend the source is fresher than it is. Confirm the amount on BharatKosh before you pay.
Watch out: pay only through official channels (the Odisha e-Gazette portal for the state route, BharatKosh for the central route) and keep the receipt. Do not pay cash to anyone who calls it a "government charge."
Public notice

Newspaper Publication in Odisha

Publishing the notice is a real step, not a formality. One newspaper is all the rules ask for, on both routes. The Odisha e-Gazette service page states the requirement in a single line: "Newspaper/e-Paper (full page), in which the notice of the name change of applicant from OLD Name to NEW Name has been published." It does not name a language and it does not ask for two papers. The Central guidelines say the same thing: "Change of name should be advertised in one of the daily local leading newspapers."

You will find plenty of pages telling Odia readers to book an Odia advert and an English advert. That is not the rule, and it doubles a cost for no legal benefit. Use one daily that circulates where you live. Sambad, Dharitri, Samaja and Prameya have strong Odia reach; The New Indian Express and The Telegraph are common English choices. The prescribed notice wording, in the Odisha portal’s own downloadable format, is itself in English.

One caveat if a passport is your goal. The one-newspaper rule above is the gazette requirement, on both routes. A Regional Passport Office sets its own document list for a name-change re-issue, and we have seen advice that it asks for cuttings from two different papers. We could not confirm that from an MEA source, so we are flagging it rather than asserting it: check Passport Seva’s own document list before you book your advert, because it is far cheaper to book two at once than to book a second one later.

Two things do matter. The full page is required, not a cutting, with the date and the newspaper’s name visible. And Odisha expressly accepts an e-Paper page in place of a physical copy, which is genuinely useful if you live outside a big town or the day’s print run has sold out. Read every letter of your new name in the advert before you keep the page: a spelling that does not match your affidavit is the single most common reason a file comes back.

Important: save the full page, not the cut-out advert. The Odisha portal asks for the full newspaper or e-Paper page, and for the Central file photocopies alone are often not accepted.
What you actually get

Inside the Odisha Gazette: Script, Format and the Gender Option

The gazette is published in English

This surprises people. The Odisha e-Gazette notice for a name change is issued in English. The portal's interface has an Odia switch and the Directorate issues its public notices bilingually, but the published certificate itself, header, notice and signature block, is English. The practical consequence is worth thinking about before you apply: if your school records, land records or old documents carry your name in Odia script, the gazette will not authenticate the Odia form of your new name. It authenticates the English form. Where an office holds your name in Odia, expect to show the gazette alongside a matching affidavit rather than instead of one.

What the published gazette looks like

A published Odisha name-change gazette is a single page carrying the words EXTRAORDINARY and PUBLISHED BY AUTHORITY, a serial number, the place (Cuttack), and the date in both the Gregorian and Saka calendars. It is processed and published by the Directorate of Printing, Stationery and Publication, and it carries the Director's digital signature. It also carries a disclaimer that most people never read until it matters:

"No legal responsibility is accepted for the publication of public notice in this Gazette of Odisha. The person(s) notifying the public notice will remain solely responsible for the legal consequences and also for any other misrepresentation etc."

In plain terms: the state prints what you declare, it does not verify that you are entitled to the name. That is why the affidavit, the notice and your identity documents have to agree with each other exactly, and why a mismatch found later is your problem, not the Press's.

Extraordinary, not weekly

Odisha does not use the Part I to Part IV structure of the Gazette of India. It publishes two kinds of gazette: an Extraordinary Gazette, issued whenever required, and a Weekly Gazette. Name and surname changes go into the Extraordinary Gazette, which means there is no fixed publication day to wait for, published entries carry ordinary weekday dates. The portal publishes its Extraordinary Gazettes openly, and the change of name and surname archive alone runs to several thousand entries, so this is a well-used route, not a paper provision.

Change of gender, and name plus gender together

Odisha runs Change of Gender as a separate gazette service on the same portal, and it offers a combined option so that a change of name and a change of gender can be recorded in a single gazette certificate rather than two. That combined route asks for a certificate or medical document in support of the change of gender. This matters for transgender applicants, who also have an entirely separate and usually better path than any gazette. Under the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act 2019, section 5, a transgender person applies to the District Magistrate for a certificate of identity, and section 6 requires the Magistrate to issue it, no medical evidence is asked for at this stage. Section 7 is the separate case: only where a person has undergone surgery to change gender to male or female does the Act ask for a certificate from the Medical Superintendent or Chief Medical Officer of the institution, and the Magistrate then issues a revised certificate. Section 7(3) is the part worth knowing: a person holding either certificate "shall be entitled to change the first name in the birth certificate and all other official documents relating to the identity of such person." That is a statutory entitlement, not a favour, and it does not depend on a gazette notification. Be careful of any service page that tells a transgender applicant a medical certificate is required for recognition, for a certificate of identity, it is not.

Every document

Name Change Services We Handle in Odisha

A gazette on its own is only useful once your other records match it. We help you update your new name across all the documents that matter for Odisha residents.

🪪

Aadhaar Card

Name change with gazette proof where a gazette is genuinely required. For a typo, a transliteration difference or initials, we send you straight to UIDAI, Odisha now tells applicants not to buy a gazette for those.

💳

PAN Card

Name update through the NSDL or UTIITSL route.

🗳️

Voter ID (EPIC)

Name correction on the electoral roll via Form 8.

🛂

Passport

Re-issue with your new name using the gazette and ads.

🚗

Driving Licence

Name update at the RTO with the gazette copy.

🏦

Bank & KYC

Update your name across bank accounts and KYC records.

🎓

BSE & CHSE Odisha

Board corrections run on the school record, not the gazette. BSE Odisha works from the Admission Register and cancelled TC, routed through your Headmaster. We help you get that proforma right.

📜

Birth Certificate

Correction through the local Registrar under the RBD Act, not the gazette.

🛡️

LIC & Insurance

Name change on policies and insurance records.

🏠

Ration Card & Property

Updates on ration card and property documents.

Tell us which documents you need updated. Call 9540005026 and we guide you through each one after the gazette.

Across Odisha

Cities in Odisha We Serve

We handle name change work for people all across Odisha, from the big cities to smaller towns. Wherever you are, the process runs the same way, and you never have to travel to Delhi.

Bhubaneswar Cuttack Rourkela Berhampur Sambalpur Puri Balasore Baripada Bhadrak Jharsuguda Jeypore Angul Dhenkanal Kendrapara Rayagada Koraput Balangir Jajpur Paradip Talcher Barbil Sunabeda

Do not see your town? We still cover it. Call 9540005026 and we will confirm.

Next step

After the Gazette: Update Your Records

Once your name change is published, use the gazette PDF to update your other records. This is the final and often the slowest part, so start early.

DocumentHow to update
AadhaarAadhaar Seva Kendra or myAadhaar. Check first whether you even need a gazette, for a typo, a transliteration difference, initials or a marriage or divorce surname change, UIDAI's own procedure does not require one
PANName correction through Protean (NSDL) or UTIITSL
PassportDo not travel to Bhubaneswar by default. RPO Bhubaneswar (A-119, Unit-VIII, Nayapalli, opposite the CBI office, Bhubaneswar-751012, phone 0674-2564470 or 0674-2563855) is the only Regional Passport Office for Odisha, but you apply at a Passport Seva Kendra or a Post Office PSK, and there are around twenty POPSKs across the state, Balasore, Berhampur, Rourkela, Sambalpur, Cuttack, Puri, Koraput, Bhawanipatna, Bolangir, Keonjhar, Baripada, Bhadrak, Jajpur, Kendrapara, Dhenkanal, Bargarh, Aska, Jagatsinghpur, Nabarangpur and Phulbani among them. Check the current list on the Passport Seva site and book the nearest one. Take the gazette and the newspaper page
Birth certificateNot a gazette job. Apply online through the Odisha Birth and Death Registration System at birthdeath.odisha.gov.in, which has a Registration Correction service; the correction is made by the Registrar under the Registration of Births and Deaths Act
Driving licence and RCYour RTO, through Parivahan Sarathi and Vahan
Bank accountsYour branch, with the gazette, affidavit and ID. Re-do the KYC record rather than only the name field
Voter IDForm 8 through the National Voters' Service Portal
Class 10 certificate (BSE Odisha)This one catches people out. BSE Odisha's correction proforma runs under Rules 39 and 40 of the Board's Regulation and is built on the school record: it goes from the Headmaster to the Deputy Secretary of the Zonal Office, verified against the original Admission Register and the cancelled Transfer Certificate. The proforma makes no provision for a gazette notification at all, so do not assume a gazette will fix a board certificate
Class 12 certificate (CHSE Odisha)Council of Higher Secondary Education, Samantapur, Bhubaneswar (chseodisha.nic.in). Ask the Council directly what it accepts before you rely on the gazette, we have not been able to find a published CHSE correction rule, and we are not going to guess one for you
Land recordsBhulekh Odisha and your Tahasildar for the Record of Rights
Ration cardFood Supplies and Consumer Welfare Department, foododisha.in
EPFJoint declaration through your employer to the EPFO regional office
Employer recordsHR, with the gazette copy

Keep several printouts of the gazette, because every office wants its own copy and none of them will hand it back. Two habits save a lot of grief: update Aadhaar and PAN first, because most other offices check against them, and keep the affidavit and the newspaper page with the gazette as a set, since some offices ask for all three. We can also handle these updates for you.

Special cases

Marriage, Divorce, Minors & Spelling

💍

After marriage

Add your marriage certificate to the file. The affidavit states your maiden name and married name. The route stays the same.

📄

After divorce

You can return to your maiden name through the same process. Keep your divorce papers ready. No separate court order is needed just to restore a maiden name.

🧒

For a minor

A parent or legal guardian applies on the child's behalf, and the state form asks you to declare that the applicant is a minor. Add age proof naming you as parent or guardian. Central fee: Rs 1,700, or Rs 5,100 for a minor living abroad.

📜

Spelling correction

State the wrong and the correct spelling in the affidavit, and read every letter in the newspaper notice before you keep the page. For a plain typing error in Aadhaar, correct it with UIDAI first, Odisha now tells applicants not to buy a gazette for that.

Expert insights

Three Things the Experienced Know

🧭

Pick the route by where the name is used

The Odisha e-Gazette is convenient for records within the state. For a passport, a central job or anything abroad, use the Central Gazette from the start, so you do not have to redo it.

🔤

The gazette records the English spelling

The Odisha gazette is issued in English, so it fixes the English form of your name and nothing else. Match one exact spelling across the affidavit, the newspaper notice and your ID. Where an office holds your name in Odia script, expect to show the affidavit alongside the gazette.

📜

School and birth records run on their own rules

A birth certificate correction goes to the Registrar through the Odisha Birth and Death Registration System, not the Government Press. And BSE Odisha corrects a certificate against the school Admission Register and the cancelled Transfer Certificate, routed through your Headmaster, its proforma does not mention a gazette. Sort the school record out before you assume the gazette covers it.

Honest view

Benefits & Drawbacks of the Gazette Route

✔ Odisha has a strong online gazette

The Odisha e-Gazette lets you apply, pay after approval and download the gazette for state-level needs from home.

✔ Central Gazette accepted everywhere

A Central Gazette notification is the proof most offices accept without argument, including UIDAI, passport offices, banks and embassies. Note the limit: school and university boards run on their own records, and a gazette does not automatically fix a board certificate.

✔ Done from anywhere in Odisha

The whole process runs on paperwork, so a resident of Koraput or Balangir completes it without travelling to Delhi.

✕ The central route takes weeks

Neither route publishes a guaranteed timeline, so plan for weeks rather than days and start before you need the new name. It is not instant.

✕ Mistakes cost money and time

A wrong fee category or a spelling gap can mean a rejection, a fresh payment and a restart.

✕ Some records need a different route

Birth certificates follow the Registrar route, so the gazette alone is not always enough.

Avoid these

Common Mistakes to Avoid

MistakeWhy it hurts
Different spellings across affidavit, ad and IDTop cause of rejection
A careless spelling in the newspaper noticeCauses a mismatch and rejection
Believing a fake "Civil Lines, Odisha-110054" addressNo such office; the Central office is in Delhi
Uploading a newspaper cutting instead of the full pageThe Odisha portal asks for the full newspaper or e-Paper page
Paying an "agent" to file the Central Gazette file for youThe Department accepts applications only in person or by post or courier, not through agents
Buying a gazette you do not needOdisha now tells applicants not to apply for Aadhaar typos, transliteration, initials or a marriage or divorce surname change
Not keeping the full original newspaper pagesYou cannot prove the publication
Using documents more than one year oldThe Department of Publication does not accept documents older than one year
Wrong fee head on the payment receiptPayment rejected or mismatched
Why YourDoorstep

Why People in Odisha Choose Us

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We pick the right route

We know when the Odisha e-Gazette is enough, and when the Central Gazette is worth it, especially for passports and jobs outside the state.

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Correct newspaper notice

We place the newspaper notice for you and check every letter against your ID before it runs.

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No office visit

Everything runs on call, WhatsApp and a short form. You stay home anywhere in Odisha.

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One team for everything

The gazette plus updating Aadhaar, PAN, passport and the rest, with clear pricing and no hidden charges.

An example of a case we handle. A professional in Bhubaneswar found his passport and degree did not match after a surname spelling error, and his overseas visa was stuck. Because he needed pan-India and overseas validity, we went the Central Gazette route. We drafted the deed and undertaking, arranged the notary, booked the newspaper notice and paid the BharatKosh fee. The file itself went to Delhi by courier in his own name, because the Department accepts applications only from the applicant, personally or by post or courier. When the notice appeared in Part IV he used the gazette PDF to fix his passport. He never left Bhubaneswar. This is an illustrative example of the type of case we handle, not a named client review.
People also search for

Related Searches, Answered

These are the phrases people actually type next after searching for a name change in Odisha. Here is what each one leads to.

Odisha e-Gazette portal

The official portal is egazette.odisha.gov.in, run by the Directorate of Printing, Stationery and Publication and built by NIC Bhubaneswar. It hosts the Change of Name/Surname service, a Change of Gender service, the published gazette archive and the citizen user manual.

E Gazette Odisha name change

The service page is at egazette.odisha.gov.in/name_surname. It lists the documents for applicants above 18 and, separately, for minors, and links the official affidavit and newspaper notice formats you are expected to follow.

Odisha gazette name change online

The whole state route is online. You register with a mobile number and email, apply, wait for the Commerce and Transport Department to check the file, pay through IFMS after approval, then download the published gazette from the same portal.

Name change procedure in Odisha PDF

People searching for a PDF usually want one of three official documents: the affidavit format, the newspaper notice format, or the e-Gazette user manual for citizens. All three are downloadable free from the portal. You should not pay anyone for them.

Odisha gazette name change form PDF download

There is no separate paper application form for the state route. The application is a web form on the portal. What you download is the affidavit format, the notice format, and, if you are a government servant, the Deed Changing Name/Surname form.

Gazette name change online fees

Two very different answers. Odisha charges per page of the notice, the state citizen manual gives the calculation as pages × Rs 529. The Central Gazette charges a flat Rs 1,100 for an adult and Rs 1,700 for a minor, paid on BharatKosh.

Gazette notification for name change online

Both routes end in a downloadable PDF. Odisha publishes to its own portal; the Central Gazette appears in Part IV of the Gazette of India at egazette.gov.in. Neither PDF needs to be stamped or attested to be valid.

Name/Surname e-Gazette Odisha

That is the exact title of the state service. It covers a change of name, a change of surname, or both, for adults and for minors through a parent or legal guardian, and it is open to residents of Odisha.

People also ask

Questions People Ask Before They Start

How do I get a Gazette notification for a name change in Odisha?

Three steps, in this order. Swear an affidavit before an Executive Magistrate or Notary Public declaring your old name, your new name and the reason. Publish the notice in one newspaper and keep the full page or e-Paper page. Then apply: for the state route, online at egazette.odisha.gov.in, where the Commerce and Transport Department checks the file, you pay through IFMS after approval, and you download the published gazette; for the Central route, send the file to the Department of Publication, Civil Lines, Delhi-110054.

How to apply for the Odisha Gazette?

Register on egazette.odisha.gov.in with your name, your father's or husband's name, a mobile number and an email address. Verify the one-time password, set a password, then open Change of Name/Surname under Apply Online. The form asks for your state, district, block or ULB, address and PIN code, and whether you are a government employee and whether the applicant is a minor, because each of those adds documents.

How much time does it take to publish a name change in a Gazette?

Nobody can honestly promise you a date, and we are not going to. Odisha publishes no processing time for this service, and we could not find gazette publication anywhere in the notified-services list under the Odisha Right to Public Services Act 2012, the Commerce and Transport Department’s own notification under that Act schedules motor-vehicle services only. On that reading there is no statutory deadline and no appeal authority for delay, and if you find otherwise we would want to know. The Central route has no guarantee either; Part IV of the Gazette of India carries a Saturday issue date, and the PDF is often uploaded some days after that. Any site quoting you a firm number for Odisha has made it up.

Is a Gazette enough for a name change in Aadhaar?

Often you do not need one at all. Following a decision of 28 November 2025, the Odisha e-Gazette portal instructs applicants not to apply for a gazette for Aadhaar corrections such as typing mistakes, transliteration errors, regional language updates, marriage, divorce or adoption related name changes, adding or editing initials, or a change in name sequence, because UIDAI's own standard operating procedure of 28 October 2021 does not require it. A gazette is advised only for a change of first name or full name.

Which Gazette is required for a name change in an Aadhaar card?

Where a gazette is genuinely needed, either works for Aadhaar. The real question is what else you have to update. If a passport, a central government job or anything overseas is involved, use the Central Gazette from the start, because offices outside Odisha are far more used to seeing the Central Gazette. We should be straight with you here: we have not found a rule that limits a state gazette’s validity to its own state, and both are published under authority. What we have seen is offices and embassies querying an unfamiliar state gazette, and re-running the process later costs far more than choosing correctly at the start.

Is a newspaper advertisement enough on its own?

No. The advertisement is one of three steps and proves nothing by itself. It has to be backed by the affidavit and completed by the gazette notification. It also has to be kept properly: the Odisha portal asks for the full newspaper or e-Paper page, not a clipping, with the date and the paper's name visible.

Can I change a name on a birth certificate online in Odisha?

Yes, but it is a different process and not a gazette job. Odisha runs the Odisha Birth and Death Registration System at birthdeath.odisha.gov.in under the Health and Family Welfare Department, and it has an online Registration Correction service where you search by district, registration unit and date of birth and then apply for a correction. Corrections go to the Registrar under the Registration of Births and Deaths Act, not to the Government Press.

How do I change a surname for a minor?

A parent or legal guardian applies on the child's behalf and the application is in their hands throughout. One route difference worth knowing: the Central guidelines name "either father or mother" as the person who notifies the change, so a non-parent legal guardian should confirm with the Department before filing centrally. Odisha's state route expressly provides for a legal guardian. Alongside the affidavit and newspaper notice, Odisha asks for the guardian's photo identity and address proof, and age proof of the minor such as a birth certificate or Aadhaar that names the applicant as father, mother or legal guardian. Where a legal guardian applies, the portal asks for the child's birth certificate, the death certificates of both parents and a document proving guardianship such as a court order or will. On the Central route the fee is Rs 1,700, or Rs 5,100 for a minor living abroad.

What is the process of changing a name officially in India?

India has no single name registry, and no one office that changes your name everywhere at once. The recognised sequence is a deed or affidavit, then a public notice in a newspaper, then publication in an official gazette, and then updating each record separately with the gazette as proof. The deed matters more than most pages admit: it is the Central route’s core instrument, Odisha hosts its own Deed Changing Name/Surname format for government servants, and an applicant abroad must have the deed attested by the Indian Embassy or High Commission. Nothing changes automatically. Every office, Aadhaar, PAN, passport, bank, employer, school board, has to be told, and each keeps its own copy.

Is a Gazette notification legally compulsory?

No statute makes it compulsory for an ordinary name change. What makes it necessary in practice is that it is the one document most offices accept without argument, and some, passport re-issue in particular, effectively insist on it. Government servants are the exception where it genuinely is required, and their file carries extra papers: an approval or no-objection from their office and the Deed Changing Name/Surname form.

Where is the gazette office in Odisha?

The Directorate of Printing, Stationery and Publication, Madhupatna, Cuttack-753010, phone 0671-2344410 (the e-Gazette portal’s contact page lists 0671-2344732 for the same office). The Odisha Government Press has been there since 1936. There is also a Secretariat Branch Press at Unit-III, Kharavela Nagar, Bhubaneswar. For a name change you do not need to visit any of them, the state service is online end to end, and the Central office is in Delhi, not Odisha.

Can an agent file my Central Gazette application for me?

No, and this is worth knowing before you pay anyone. The Department of Publication's guidelines say plainly: "Application either submitted personally or sent by Post/Courier only will be entertained. No other channel is permissible viz Agents, Advocates, etc." A consultant can prepare your file, get the wording right and pay the fee, but the application goes in your name, personally or by post or courier.

Let YourDoorstep handle it for you

We pick the right route, prepare the affidavit, arrange the newspaper notice, handle the gazette fee, and get your file ready for the Odisha e-Gazette or the Central Gazette, then guide you on updating Aadhaar, PAN and passport. The Central application goes in your own name, by post or courier, the Department does not accept it from agents, and we will not pretend otherwise. Doorstep service, honest pricing.

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FAQs

Frequently Asked Questions

How can I change my name through the gazette in Odisha?+
Make a notarised affidavit, publish the notice in one newspaper, then file for a gazette notification. You can use the Odisha e-Gazette online, or the Central Gazette for pan-India validity.
Does Odisha have its own online gazette portal?+
Yes, the Odisha e-Gazette at egazette.odisha.gov.in, with a dedicated change of name and surname service. For pan-India work, most people use the Central Gazette.
Which gazette should I use, Odisha or Central?+
The Odisha e-Gazette is fine for records within the state. For a passport, PAN, bank, a central job or work abroad, the Central Gazette is the safer, pan-India choice.
What is the fee for name change in Odisha?+
The Odisha e-Gazette is charged per page of the notice. The Government of Odisha citizen manual gives the calculation as the number of pages multiplied by Rs 529, using 2 × 529 = Rs 1,058 as its own worked example; a name-change notice is usually one page. There is no adult or minor split in Odisha, unlike the Central route. You pay it on the portal through IFMS after your application is approved, so you are not out of pocket if the file comes back to you. The Central Gazette fee is Rs 1,100 for adults and Rs 1,700 for minors, paid on BharatKosh. Applicants living abroad pay Rs 3,500 as adults and Rs 5,100 for a minor. There is no per-alias charge: the Rs 250 that circulates online is the surcharge for adopting a name of another religion without changing your religion, which makes Rs 1,350. Stamp paper, notary and newspaper ads are extra.
How long does a name change take in Odisha?+
We are not going to give you a number we cannot stand behind. Odisha publishes no processing time for this service, and we could not find gazette publication in the notified-services list under the Odisha Right to Public Services Act 2012, the Commerce and Transport Department’s own notification under that Act schedules motor-vehicle services only. So unlike a birth certificate or a driving licence, which do carry statutory limits, we can find no deadline and no appeal authority for this one. What we can tell you is the shape of it: the affidavit is same-day, the newspaper notice is a day or two, and the wait is in the Commerce and Transport Department check and then publication. The Central route has no guarantee either. Sites quoting you a firm 30 to 45 days for Odisha have made it up.
Where do I apply for the Odisha state gazette?+
Online at egazette.odisha.gov.in, under the change of name and surname service, run by the Government of Odisha.
Do I have to go to Delhi for the Central Gazette?+
No. The file can be sent by post or courier, but it must go in your own name. The Department’s guidelines say "Application either submitted personally or sent by Post/Courier only will be entertained. No other channel is permissible viz Agents, Advocates, etc." So no consultant, ours included, can submit it for you. Everything around the filing can still be done from anywhere in Odisha.
Is the Odisha e-Gazette valid for a passport?+
For a passport we would use the Central Gazette, and we would say so even though the state route is cheaper and easier. The Central Gazette is accepted across India and by embassies without argument. We have not found a rule limiting a state gazette to its own state, and we are not going to claim one, but an unfamiliar state gazette does get queried, and re-running the process later costs far more than choosing correctly at the start. If a passport is involved, ask the office first. If your name only has to work inside Odisha, the e-Gazette is genuinely the better option.
Which cities in Odisha do you serve?+
We serve Bhubaneswar, Cuttack, Rourkela, Berhampur, Sambalpur, Puri, Balasore, Baripada, Bhadrak, Jharsuguda and nearby towns.
Do you help update Aadhaar, PAN, Voter ID and birth certificate after the gazette?+
Yes. We help update Aadhaar, PAN, Voter ID, passport, driving licence, bank records, BSE and CHSE Odisha and university certificates, and insurance policies with your gazette proof. Birth certificate corrections are handled through the local Registrar route, not the gazette.
Can I change my name online in Odisha?+
Yes. The Odisha e-Gazette is fully online. For the Central Gazette, fee payment and the download are online, while the affidavit, newspaper ads and file submission are offline, though you can run all of it remotely.
Where do I download my gazette once it is published?+
For the Odisha e-Gazette, from egazette.odisha.gov.in. For the Central Gazette, from egazette.gov.in under Weekly Gazette, Part IV. Keep several printouts.
Do I need a lawyer to change my name in Odisha?+
No. A notary attests the affidavit. Help from a consultant mainly saves you from format mistakes and rejections.
Can I change my name without a gazette notification?+
Often, yes, and Odisha now says so itself. Following a decision of 28 November 2025, the state e-Gazette portal instructs people not to apply for a gazette for Aadhaar corrections such as typing mistakes, transliteration errors, regional language updates, marriage, divorce or adoption related name changes, adding or editing initials, or a change of name sequence, because the UIDAI standard operating procedure of 28 October 2021 does not require it. A gazette is advised only for a change of first name or full name. For a passport, PAN, bank or job records, a gazette is still what most offices ask for.
Which newspapers should I use in Odisha?+
One newspaper is enough, and no language is prescribed. The Odisha service page asks only for the "Newspaper/e-Paper (full page)" carrying the notice, and the Central guidelines ask for "one of the daily local leading newspapers." Odia dailies such as Sambad, Dharitri, Samaja and Prameya are widely used, as is an English paper such as The New Indian Express, The Telegraph or The Times of India. Odisha also accepts an e-Paper page, so long as it is the full page and not a clipping.
I want to change my surname after marriage. What extra do I need?+
Add your marriage certificate to the file. The affidavit states your maiden name and married name. The rest is the same.
Do I need signatures from two gazetted officers on my affidavit?+
For an ordinary name change, no. Government servants are the real exception, and Odisha spells out what they need instead: an approval or no-objection from their own office, plus the Deed Changing Name/Surname form, both downloadable from the portal. The state application form asks directly whether you are a government employee, so there is no way round it.
What if there is a spelling mismatch in my documents?+
Mismatched spellings across the affidavit, newspaper ad and ID proof are the biggest cause of rejection. Every spelling must match exactly across all three, and the gazette records the English form of your name.
How do I update Aadhaar and PAN after the gazette?+
Use the gazette PDF as proof and apply through the normal Aadhaar and PAN update routes, or let us handle it for you.
Can NRIs from Odisha change their name?+
Yes, with valid Indian ID. Someone living abroad needs the deed attested by the Indian Embassy or High Commission, and the Central Gazette route is recommended.
Will the department return my original documents?+
No. The Department of Publication does not return submitted documents. Keep your own extra copies.
Is the Odisha e-Gazette open to everyone, or only government employees?+
Open to everyone, and the portal says so in as many words: the service is provided "to provide hassle-free services to all residents of Odisha." This is worth stating because it is not true everywhere, some states restrict the gazette name change route to government servants and leave ordinary citizens with only the Central route. Odisha does not. Government servants simply have extra documents to attach, not a separate route. The one real limit is residence: the address proof, the affidavit format and the newspaper notice format all ask for an Odisha address.
Who actually checks my Odisha application?+
The Commerce and Transport Department, Government of Odisha. Most pages tell you that you are applying to the gazette office; you are not. Your file goes to that Department for verification, and only after it approves does it reach the Government Press for publication. If something is wrong, the application comes back to you with remarks and you correct and resubmit it. You pay only once it has been approved.
What file formats do I upload on the Odisha portal?+
The government's own documents do not fully agree, so keep both ready. The service page says to attach the photo identity and address proof documents "in a single PDF." The citizen user manual says all documents must be uploaded "in the form of images (Scanned copy in PNG/JPG) only and maximum of 5 MB in size." Follow whatever the upload box in front of you asks for. What is not in dispute: the newspaper page must be the full page.
Is the Odisha gazette printed in Odia?+
No. The published name-change gazette is in English, header, notice and signature block. The portal has an Odia interface and the Directorate issues bilingual public notices, but the certificate itself is English. So the gazette authenticates the English form of your name. If your school, land or older records carry your name in Odia script, expect to produce the affidavit alongside the gazette rather than instead of it.
Can I change my gender and my name in one gazette?+
On the Odisha portal, yes. Change of Gender is a separate service on the same portal, and it offers a combined name-and-gender option so both are recorded in a single certificate, with a certificate or medical document in support of the gender change. But if you are a transgender applicant, look first at the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act 2019: a certificate of identity from the District Magistrate needs no medical evidence at all, and section 7(3) entitles the holder to change the first name in the birth certificate and all other identity documents. That statutory route is usually stronger than a gazette.
Can a consultant file my Central Gazette application for me?+
Not the filing itself. The Department of Publication guidelines state: "Application either submitted personally or sent by Post/Courier only will be entertained. No other channel is permissible viz Agents, Advocates, etc." Anyone promising to walk your file in is either mistaken or misleading you. What a consultant can properly do is everything around it, draft the affidavit, get the notice wording right, assemble the proforma and annexures in the expected order, pay the BharatKosh fee, and then the application goes in your own name.
What does the published Odisha gazette actually say?+
It is a single page marked EXTRAORDINARY and PUBLISHED BY AUTHORITY, carrying a serial number, Cuttack as the place, the date in both Gregorian and Saka calendars, your notice, and the Director's digital signature. It also carries a disclaimer worth reading: no legal responsibility is accepted for the publication, and the person notifying it remains solely responsible for the legal consequences and any misrepresentation. The state prints what you declare; it does not verify your entitlement to the name. That is exactly why the affidavit, the notice and your ID must match each other.
Will a gazette fix my Class 10 or Class 12 certificate in Odisha?+
Do not assume so. BSE Odisha's certificate correction proforma runs under Rules 39 and 40 of the Board's Regulation and is built entirely on the school record: it is submitted by the Headmaster to the Deputy Secretary of the Zonal Office and verified against the original Admission Register and the cancelled Transfer Certificate. The proforma makes no provision for a gazette notification. For CHSE Odisha we could not find a published correction rule at all, so ask the Council directly rather than trusting anyone's guess, including ours.
How much stamp paper do I need for the affidavit in Odisha?+
We will not quote you a figure we cannot source. The Odisha e-Gazette portal prescribes no stamp value at all, its official affidavit formats carry no denomination, and the only requirement stated is that the affidavit be sworn before an Executive Magistrate or Notary Public. In practice notaries in Odisha use low-value non-judicial stamp paper. Ask your notary what value they are using on the day, and be sceptical of any page giving you a precise number without a source.
Where can I see gazettes that have already been published?+
On the portal itself, free. egazette.odisha.gov.in publishes its Extraordinary Gazettes openly, including the change of name and surname entries, and the archive runs to several thousand of them. It is a useful sanity check before you apply: you can see the exact format your own notice will take, and confirm that ordinary residents, not just officials, are being published.

People also search for: Name change agent in Bhubaneswar, Odisha e-Gazette name change online, Odisha gazette office address, name change in birth certificate Odisha, surname change after marriage, passport name change process, Aadhaar name change online.

Nearby and related

Name Change in Nearby States

State rules differ far more than most sites admit. A route that exists in one state may not exist next door, so use the guide for the state whose records you actually need.

West Bengal

For readers in Balasore, Bhadrak and the northern districts who hold records across the border.

Jharkhand

Relevant if your school or land records sit in the Sundargarh and Keonjhar border belt.

Andhra Pradesh

For families across the southern border around Ganjam and Gajapati.

Chhattisgarh

The western neighbour, reached from Nuapada, Kalahandi and Nabarangpur.

Madhya Pradesh

Not a border state, but worth reading if you moved from there: it has its own Rajpatra route, and its own limits on what a gazette will fix.

Name change agent in Odisha

What we handle for Odisha applicants, and what the rules say we cannot do on your behalf.

Verified against

Official Sources & References

Every fee, rule and address on this page was read off a government source, and where we could not find one we say so on the page instead of filling the gap with a number. That is why you will not find a stamp paper value or a promised turnaround here.

Government fees and timelines can be revised from time to time. Always confirm the current figures on the official portals above before you apply.

In short

The Short Version

First, check whether you need a gazette at all: since 28 November 2025 Odisha instructs applicants not to apply for one to fix an Aadhaar typo, a transliteration difference, initials, a name sequence or a marriage, divorce or adoption surname change. If your first name or full name is genuinely changing, it is three steps, affidavit, one newspaper notice, gazette. Odisha gives you two routes. Its own e-Gazette at egazette.odisha.gov.in is open to all residents of the state, is charged per page of the notice (pages × Rs 529 in the state's citizen manual), is checked by the Commerce and Transport Department, and is paid only after approval. The Central Gazette costs Rs 1,100 for an adult and Rs 1,700 for a minor and is the one to use for a passport or anything abroad, and it must be filed in your own name, since the Department does not accept applications through agents. One newspaper is enough on either route, full page or e-Paper page. Neither route publishes a guaranteed timeline, and we could not find Odisha's gazette service in the state Right to Public Services Act notified list, so nobody can honestly promise you a date. Whether you are in Bhubaneswar, Cuttack, Rourkela or Sambalpur, all of it can be done from home, and we update your Aadhaar, PAN, Voter ID and passport once it is published.

Ready to change your name in Odisha?

Pick the Odisha e-Gazette for records within the state, or the pan-India Central Gazette for a passport and abroad. Or let our team pick the right route and file it for you, wherever you are in Odisha.

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