Annexure 1, 2 or 3? The Gujarat Gazette Fee Structure, Explained

The Government put a three-day promise in writing — and almost nobody knows

Buried in the fee Government Resolution is a service commitment you will not find stated on any agent’s website. For the ₹2,500 Annexure-2 route, the Resolution says that once an application for a standalone urgent name or surname change has been completely scrutinised and found to be in order, the notice will be published in the Extra Ordinary Gazette, Part-II, within three days, excluding public holidays.

For the ₹1,000 Annexure-3 route, the Resolution says standalone notices are published in the regularly issued Ordinary Gazette, in the order the applications were received once every detail is complete.

Both services were newly created by that Resolution. Before October 2024 there was only the ordinary route.

Two official sources disagree about the publication day

While checking this we found a genuine discrepancy, and we would rather show it to you than quietly pick one:

• The portal’s own FAQ page says the Ordinary Gazette is published every Thursday.
• The fee Government Resolution of 5 October 2024 describes the Ordinary Gazette as the one published regularly every Tuesday.

A dated, signed Government Resolution normally carries more weight than an undated FAQ page, so the Tuesday reference is the more recent authority. But we have not seen this reconciled anywhere, and the practical answer is the same either way: do not plan around a publication day. The only timing the Government has actually committed to in writing is the three-day window on Annexure-2, and that clock starts after scrutiny. If the exact day matters to your case, the Rajkot office will tell you — 0281-2540016 / 0281-2540017, or gazette-helpline-rjt@gujarat.gov.in.

The ten official instructions, in English

Page two of Annexure-1 carries ten numbered instructions from the Government. They are printed in Gujarati and are not published in English anywhere — so most applicants never read the rules their application will be judged against. This is our own plain-English rendering of them, given so you know what is expected. For anything that affects your case, read the Gujarati original on the form itself.

1. Photo and proofs. A recent passport-size photograph, signed across, attached to the notice form. The affidavit must carry the old name, the new name and the full address. Attach one photo ID (election card, PAN, Aadhaar, driving licence, passport, ration card) and one address proof (telephone, electricity or house-tax bill) — self-attested copies.
2. The affidavit. On non-judicial stamp paper, sworn before a First Class Magistrate, an Executive Magistrate or a notary, with signature and seal — submitted in the original, recent, and made specifically for the purpose of gazette publication.
3. Applicants under 18. The affidavit is made by the father, mother or guardian. Separate affidavits are given individually. Certified proof of date of birth must accompany the application.
4. Remarriage. The applicant must set out the details in the affidavit, with the court’s divorce decree and evidence of the remarriage. A change of a child’s name or surname after the mother’s remarriage may be published on the mother’s affidavit — but the responsibility is personally the applicant’s, and it carries no legal backing.
5. Adoption. A change on adoption is published on an adoption deed made under the Hindu Adoption and Maintenance Act, 1956, per its current provisions.
6. You cannot change your father’s name. If the father’s name itself needs correcting, the father must first change his own; only then can you apply on that basis using the prescribed form.
7. A married woman taking her husband’s name. Attach a self-attested copy of the wedding invitation card or the marriage certificate. If the marriage was long ago and the card is unavailable, a joint affidavit of husband and wife will do; if the husband has died, the death certificate together with government records.
8. After divorce. A self-attested or true copy of the court’s divorce decree, with the original affidavit made for gazette publication.
9. An unmarried mother. To publish the child’s name after the mother’s, a joint affidavit with photographs as described in instruction 2, plus a self-attested copy of the child’s birth certificate, signed by the applicant and submitted with the notice form.
10. The mother’s name after the child’s. Subject to various rulings of the Gujarat High Court, where the child is lawfully in the mother’s custody after a divorce, Aadhaar is to be produced, and the mother’s name or surname may be published on the affidavit of the child and the mother.

Rendered from the Gujarati text printed on Annexure-1. This is general information, not legal advice, and the Gujarati original governs.