Death Certificate Pune Process

DEATH CERTIFICATE PUNE PROCESS - Updated in July 2025

The loss of a family member is always a difficult event in one’s life. Handling the immediate aftermath of going through the death certificate is the start point. Many of us do not know how to go about this, finding out only along the way. 

In this post, I will be writing about the process that needs to be followed in case someone passes away. Although this post is only for Pune city, the process would be similar in other cities too.

• Immediate aftermath.
• Doctor’s certificate of death (Yellow Form PMC-4A).
• Intimation to the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) at designated centres and obtaining the cremation pass.
• Applying for a formal death certificate (DC) at the Ward office after 3 weeks.

Documents / Information required :

• Doctor’s Signed form (PMC-4A).
• 2 Copies of Aadhaar of the person deceased (Masked Aadhaar, but you should know the full Aadhaar number  to enter in the form). 
• 2 Copies of Aadhaar  of the person who will intimate the death to the PMC (Masked Aadhaar)
• Names and Aadhaar numbers of the parents of deceased (if available).

Process. Upon the demise of the person, you have to contact your treating doctor who will confirm the event and will sign the PMC Form 4A (Medical Certification of Cause of Death). Here is a sample. The doctor certifies that the deceased person was under his treatment, hence you need to connect with someone like a family doctor who knows some history of the patient. The stamp with details and signature are essential. Usually, an ECG is also required. Some hospitals provide this service as a paid one, but the regular treating doctor needs to sign the certificate because of the history required. The instructions on the reverse of this form clearly state the requirements and the fact that a cause of death needs to be mentioned.

Speak to the doctor about intimating an agency in case of organ donation.

With the signed Form 4A, go to the nearest facility that will issue a certificate for cremation / burial (sample of cremation pass is here).

• Carry two copies of the (masked) Aadhaar card of the deceased person and also the person who is intimating the death (it can be a relative or friend).
• Don't carry any other forms, than the complete Aadhaar information of the spouse and parents of the deceased person. 
• Ask a friend or relative to confirm that the cremation facility you plan to use is not shut down for maintenance. This location has to be mentioned in the form at the centre and displayed on the Cremation Pass. It is very difficult to amend the information later on. 
• Links to the Baner Crematorium, and Vaikunth Crematorium are in the names. 
• At the PMC centre you have to fill out a form with required information, to include family particulars and other demographic data for the statistics. You need to specify the place for cremation (crematorium / burial ground); or if you wish to donate the mortal remains for research to a hospital. All this will be entered in the form, and then the cremation pass is issued. Here is a link to the form, to help you know what you need to fill in.

Centres for issuing Cremation Pass.

• Most of the PMC-run hospitals in each vicinity (also called ‘kuti-hospital) have a 24-hour counter for this. One is at Aundh (AIMS hospital premises) and one at Pashan market, Sahdev Eknath Nimhan Kuti Hospital. The links are in the name.
• There is also a Smart City Clinic / Primary Health Care Centre run by PMC on Baner Road, (next to Croma) that operates from 9 AM to 5 PM on weekdays, and upto 1 PM on Saturday. Link is here. Many thanks to the staff at the clinic for giving me a lot of information.

 

Hearse for mortal remains. There are numerous ambulance services available that will provide a hearse to ferry the mortal remains to the crematorium. A Google search will show you the ones closest to you.

Cremation. Proceed to the crematorium with the Cremation pass and wait for your turn. Normally it does not involve too much of a wait, but the authorities do not accept your turn in the queue, until the hearse actually reaches the site. Plan accordingly. There are priests present in the premises who will assist with the last rites for a standard fee. There is no payment to be made just for the cremation, and the crematorium provides a basic bamboo stretcher. Hand over the cremation pass and earthen container for ashes to the caretaker (or you can carry the container the next day). You will be returned the lower part of the cremation pass that is needed for collection of the ashes. 

If you need to transport the mortal remains outside the city in a hearse, then the same centre will issue a Permit. You need to also take Police permission. Carriage of these documents is mandatory otherwise you will be detained at some check post or by a patrol. A sample of the Permit is here, which also gives the other requirements to be fulfilled before transportation. 

Mortuary Services. There are times, when you may require mortuary services for preservation, in case cremation has to be delayed until relatives can reach Pune. Some hospitals might provide this on payment as well.  You could hire a freezer unit for home use for a few days, in case you do not want to use a hospital morgue. The unit requires a continuous 15 amp supply, and can tolerate a power failure for an hour or two without any ill-effects. While there are many such agencies, we were very satisfied by the service provided by Mr Pramod Kshirsagar, of Gurukrupa Funeral and Mortuary Services on Paud Road, link is in the agency name. He came home with the unit, set it up and took it away on completion, for a certain daily rental.

Collection of the Ashes. The next day the representative should go to the crematorium with the portion of the cremation pass and collect the ashes. Carry along with you any suitable container like an earthen pot of about 2 to 3 litres capacity with a lid if you haven't given this earier. The crematorium does not provide any container.

Immersion. One of the designated places for immersion of the ashes in Pune is at the RTO end of the Sangam bridge, called 'Sangam Asthi Visarjan', as before, the link is in the name.

Collection of the final Death Certificate. Visit the nearest PMC Ward Office after 21 working days: 

• Carry the bottom portion of the cremation pass that was returned to you.
• Two copies of the Aadhaar card of the person visiting the Ward Office for this (masked one is okay).
• Go first to the office where the PMC staff make all initial entries in the system. You must check the correctness of information on his computer, to ensure that the name, address, dates are as per the Aadhaar, including the names of the parents, date, address etc. This is a one-time activity, and you must be 100% sure that the information is correctly fed in as per Aadhaar details. Any error will involve a lot of paperwork and time to correct thereafter. Even a difference in one letter of the name is not acceptable by the bank and other authorities.
• Thereafter complete the form for application available in the nearby counter that actually issues the printout of DC, attach a copy of your Aadhaar and make a payment. The first copy is free of cost, and each additional one costs 10 rupees to be paid in cash. So, of you want 20 copies, carry 200 rupees, and write 21 copies in the form (including the 1st free one) – or you could carry 190 rupees in change and write 20 copies. 

To reiterate, you do not need to print any of the forms given in this blog, they are only for your information. 

I do hope that this post removes your doubts and reduces your running around after the loss of a loved one.

I have also written a blog on how to make a Will, and why. This is something everyone must do in today's world. A link to the page is here.