In fresh rules for acquiring birth and death certificates, the Municipal Corporation of Delhi has decided that these documents will now be available only at the respective hospitals or zonal offices and not be couriered to the online applicants.

Officials at the health department of MCD, which provides online services for registering births and deaths, said the decision was taken after they discovered that many applicants provided fake details to acquire the documents.

"We offered online services whereby one can order the birth or death certificate after paying the fee over Internet through credit card. After that we used to courier the certificate. But now this service will stop and applicants can get the certificate only at the hospital or zonal offices," MCD Health Committee Chairman V K Monga said.

"The reason being that we received many complains from applicants that they did not receive their documents. When we inquired, we found that the address provided were misleading," he said.

If the child delivery is institutional, the birth certificate will be available at the hospital and if it is at home, the applicant has to visit the zonal offices, he said.

As per the service, the applicant would first need to register with the MCD website www.mcdonline.gov.in, he said.

As many as 281 hospitals and nursing homes here are linked to the MCD website, which is updated everyday on details of births and deaths, Monga said.