Video KYC marriage registration gains popularity in Kerala, a relief for Non-Resident Keralites

DR Anish R and Dr Prakruthi K got married in a solemn observance in the front of their devout ones in Kerala's Kochi some clip plunk for. Days later, the young doctor couple registered their marriage at a local body in Ernakulam, sitting over 1,200 km away from the home state. They registered their wedding comfortably sitting inside their apartment in Pune in Maharashtra via online. They downloaded the marriage certificate later without any hassle. Unlike in the past, the couple didn't need to be physically present at the corporation office and wait for hours for their turn to get their marriage registered officially and receive the certificate. This has been the new trend of online marriage registrations catching up in Kerala for some time, which enables the couple to register their wedding from anywhere in the world and at any time without being physically present at their local body. A path-breaking initiative by the state Local Self-Government Department, the marriage registration via video E-KYC (electronic know your customer) has been implemented through its K-SMART platform, an in-house software developed by the Information Kerala Mission (IKM). Launched across urban local bodies in the state in January last year, it has been extended to rural areas from this April, ensuring universal access across Kerala. Of the total 1,44,416 marriages registered between January 2024 and September 22 this year, as many as 62,524 weddings have been registered online, as per official figures. Thrissur has the largest number of registrations using video-KYC during the period -10062, followed by Malappuram (8345) and Thiruvanthapuram (7394), it said. "While most of the nations and other states in India still mandate the physical appearance of the bride and groom before a designated authority to register marriage, Kerala has shown the unique way through the K-SMART," Santhosh Babu, CMD, IKM, said. It is yet another historic milestone achieved by the state in digital governance, he told PTI. Noting that the registration procedures are too simple, Babu said the couple and their witnesses can complete identity verification through video KYC using either an Aadhaar-based OTP verification or email authentication. They will be issued digitally downloadable marriage certificates later by the respective registrar after completing the procedures, he said. "We had only limited leave, and we rushed back to Pune within days after the marriage. We could not even think to come back to Kerala soon for marriage registration. The digital registration system was really a saviour," Dr Anish, who is now practising in New Delhi, told PTI. Ashwin, 34, a Varkala native working as a nurse in the European nation of Malta, also shared a similar experience. "We got a call from the Varkala Municipality for collecting details. Within minutes, we could download our marriage certificate from Malta itself," he told PTI. Authorities said the conventional time-consuming marriage registration procedure, which mandated the physical presence of spouses, used to cause great difficulty, especially for Non-resident Keralites (NRKs). With the whole process being able to be carried out online, there is no room for such concerns at present, and even people working on moving ships have registered their marriage while on board in the middle of the ocean, they said. Jaya, mother of Vijay, a software engineer in the United States who recently registered his marriage via K-SMART, hailed the digital platform. "To apply for an H-4 visa, the spouse's details need to be shown. So, showing a marriage certificate is compulsory. We could produce it at the right time, as we made the online registration," she told PTI. The online marriage registration also remarkably reduced the workload of local self-government bodies and the rush at the office premises by the couple to ensure their physical presence. Abhilash, Secretary of Guruvayoor Municipality, said the number of those physically appearing for marriage registration has come down to 10-25 per cent nowadays. Guruvayoor Sree Krishna Temple, located in Thrissur district, is one of the places in the state which witnesses a large number of marriages every day. "Usually, after the marriage, the couple would either come to the municipality office or its special counter opened at the temple compound. The workload of physically completing these procedures was also too high," he told PTI. Nowadays, a large number of couples, especially those from abroad, seem to be opting for the online facility for marriage registration, he added. Babu said that even though the marriage registration is just a fingertipaway, many people still think that they should visit the local body or the Akshaya Centre (common service centres) at least once before downloading the certificate online. "Actually, couples need not log in or verify the details at the same time or from the same place. They can complete the verification even across different time zones," the official said, adding that a thorough awareness is still needed to persuade more common people to avail the digital platform. A citizen-centric e-governance platform, the Kerala Solutions for Managing Administrative Reformation and Transformation (K-Smart) platform allows citizens to access a range of services online, including birth, death, and marriage registrations, building permits, property tax payments, and so on.