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The Union health ministry has issued a draft amendment to the Surrogacy (Regulation) Rules, 2022, elaborating the manner of renewal of registration of surrogacy clinics, proposing a fee of Rs. 1 lakh for renewal and that the validity of renewal will be for a period of three years from the date of expiry of the prevailing registration.
The Ministry issued the draft notification Surrogacy (Regulation) Amendment Rules, 2025, dated November 27, with a notice to take the draft into consideration after the expiry of a period of 30 days from the date on which the copies of the notification as published in the official Gazette are made available to the public.
Objections or suggestions, if any, to these draft rules may be sent to the deputy secretary (ART/surrogacy), under the Department of Health Research, within the period.
The amendment proposes to include a rule on the mode of payment of registration fee and its utilisation, stating that the fee shall be deposited in a bank account in the name of official designation of appropriate authority and shall be utilised in connection with the activities related to implementation of the provisions of the Surrogacy Act.
Besides, under the existing rules, the amendment proposes to add Rule 11 A on the manner of renewal of certificate of registration and fee for renewal of registration of clinics.
It proposes that the clinics with valid registration shall apply for renewal of the certificate of registration through the National Registry Portal at least 60 days before the date of expiry of the current registration, along with non-refundable fee of Rs. 1 lakh.
If the application for renewal is not received within a period of 60 days before the date of expiry of the current registration, the application fee will be Rs. 2 lakh, which is charged during the fresh registration of such clinics. If the establishment is in government-run institutes, there is no need to pay a fee for renewal.
"The renewal of certificate of registration shall be valid for a further period of three years from the date of expiry of the certificate of registration earlier granted," said the draft amendment.
After submission of the online application for renewal of certificate of registration on the National Registry Portal, a PDF printout of the filled-in application form, duly signed by the authorized signatory on behalf of the clinic, shall be submitted to the appropriate authority of the respective State government or Union territory Administration and the application for renewal shall be considered only from the date the prescribed fee, along with the PDF copy of the application, is received by the appropriate authority. The fee should be submitted through a bank account in the name of official designation of appropriate authority.
On receipt of the application for renewal of certificate of registration, the appropriate authority shall within a period of sixty days, conduct inspection and if satisfied that the applicant has met with the requirements, issue renewal of registration or reject the application with reasons to be recorded in writing, if the application does not conform to the provisions of the Act and Rules. No application shall be rejected without giving an opportunity of being heard to the applicant, it adds.
If the application for renewal is rejected, the applicant can re-submit the renewal application if it complies with the provisions of the Act and Rules, without paying any fee.
The intimation with regard to renewal of certificate of registration or rejection of application for such renewal shall be made to the State Board. The renewed certificate of registration shall be displayed by the surrogacy clinic at a conspicuous place at its place of business, it added.
The Ministry has earlier made several amendments to the Surrogacy (Regulation) Rules, 2022, over the past couple of years, in order to enhance the regulation of surrogacy in the country. The Surrogacy (Regulation) Act, 2021, came into effect in January, 2022, is aimed at prohibiting commercial surrogacy and controlling unethical practices in surrogacy, while defining and enabling ethical surrogacy to the eligible citizens on fulfillment of certain conditions.
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