Signature Change After Name Change in Uttarakhand

Very little is laid down about signatures. These are the points we could tie to a paper.

The first two rows are from the Government's change of name guideline as this site sets it out. The last three are from the regulator's forms of November 2021 as listed companies publish them. For banks, the tax card and the passport we found no single published rule on a new signature, and describe what is commonly done.

A woman whose signature reads "Sunita Rawat" and who is now Sunita Bisht has a real reason to change it. A man whose signature is two loops and a line does not, whatever his new name is.

Step 1: Decide whether to keep your old signature or adopt a new one

Nothing compels a change. A new signature means a new specimen at every office that holds one.

Step 2: If you change it, fix one new signature and practise it

The same strokes each time, in the same script. Do not sign three ways in the first month.

Step 3: List every office that holds your specimen

The bank, the tax card, the passport, the demat account, any company whose shares you hold, insurers, your employer.

Step 4: Start with the bank

Go in person, with identity papers in your present name, and give a fresh specimen on the bank's form.

Step 5: Ask for a new cheque book, and stop using old signed cheques

A cheque signed the old way after the specimen has changed will be returned.

Step 6: Update the tax card and the passport when you next change them

Each carries an image of your signature, taken on its own form.

Step 7: Update shares and investments

For shares held on paper, with a banker's attestation of the signature in the set form.

Step 8: Keep one dated paper that shows both signatures

A bank's acknowledgement, or an affidavit, for the day an old paper is questioned.

• A cheque is paid when the drawer's signature matches the specimen. A cheque signed the other way is returned.
• A returned cheque has consequences beyond the bank's charge. Do not let one happen for want of a visit.
• Cheques already given, such as post-dated ones to a lender or a landlord, carry the old signature. Replace them when the specimen changes.
• Loan repayment mandates signed on paper are checked against the specimen too. Ask the lender if a fresh mandate is needed.
• Fixed deposit receipts and their renewal forms are signed. So are withdrawal slips.
• For a few weeks after the change, sign bank papers slowly and the same way each time.

Read cheque payee name mismatch for the name on a cheque, which is a different question, and home loan name mismatch.

From the market regulator's forms for holders of shares on paper, as listed companies publish them.

• The form by which a holder registers or changes details lists the signature among them, with PAN and bank details.
• For the signature it asks for a banker's attestation, in a second set form: a confirmation of the holder's signature by the banker.
• In that form the bank certifies the signature as recorded with it, with the account holder's photograph.
• So the order matters. The bank's specimen is changed first. The company's registrar then relies on the bank.
• For a small mismatch the registrar writes to the holder at the address on record. For a large one it wants the attestation.
• A demat account, a mutual fund and an insurer each have a form of their own for a changed signature.

Read share certificate name change and correction, name change in demat and mutual fund records and IEPF claim name mismatch, where a signature mismatch is a listed reason for a claim coming back.

Step 1: Fix the exact new name before anything else

The signature follows the name. Settle the spelling first.

Step 2: Make the affidavit

State the old name, the new name, your father's or husband's name and your address. Sign before a notary.

Step 3: Publish the newspaper notice

In a daily local leading newspaper. Keep the original newspaper.

Step 4: Type the form, and sign it in your old name

Two typed copies of the specimen, signed in your old name with two witnesses. The old signature is the one to use here.

Step 5: Sign the undertaking, and prepare the CD and photographs

The same text on a CD in MS Word, two self-attested photographs with identity proof, and a certificate that both copies match.

Step 6: Pay the charge on BharatKosh

Commonly Rs 1,100 for an adult. It is not refunded.

Step 7: Send the file yourself

To the Controller of Publications, Department of Publication, Civil Lines, Delhi 110054.

Step 8: Change the signature only after the Gazette is published

Then update Aadhaar and PAN, and give each office the new specimen with the Gazette.

See gazette name change in Uttarakhand.

A typical case we handle: a schoolteacher in Dehradun changed her name by Gazette from "Kumari Pushpa" to "Pushpa Negi", and began signing the new name at once. Her salary account was still in the old name, and a cheque to her landlord came back. She asked us if the Gazette could be amended to show her new signature. A Gazette shows no signature. She took the notification to her branch, had the name on the account changed, gave a fresh specimen in the same visit, and replaced the cheque. This is an illustrative example of the type of case we handle, not a named client review.

When you do not need us

For the signature itself, always. Only you can give a specimen, and only the office can take it. We are useful for the step before it: a Gazette notification where the name is changed by choice.

Is it compulsory to change a signature after a name change?

No. It is a choice.

How do I change my signature in the bank?

In person, on the bank's form, with identity papers.

Is a gazette needed to change a signature?

No. A Gazette is for a name.

Which signature goes on the Gazette application?

The old one, in the old name.

Can my signature be different from my name?

Yes. A signature is a mark, not a spelling.

Why was my cheque returned for the signature?

It did not match the bank's specimen.

Which SEBI circular deals with signature mismatch for physical shares?

SEBI circular SEBI/HO/MIRSD/MIRSD_RTAMB/P/CIR/2021/655 of 3 November 2021. It brought in Form ISR-1 to update details and Form ISR-2 for the banker's attestation of the signature.

What happens if my signature only slightly differs for my shares?

For a minor mismatch, the registrar writes to you by speed post at the registered address and allows 15 days for any objection. If the letter comes back or someone objects, it asks the bank to verify the signature.

What do I give for a major signature mismatch on shares?

For a major mismatch, or where the registrar has no specimen, you give the original cancelled cheque and the banker's attestation of your signature in Form ISR-2.

Does the share registrar need an affidavit for a signature change?

No. The circular says the registrar shall not insist on affidavits, attestation or notarisation for updating details. Self-attested papers are enough.

Which form updates my specimen signature for physical shares?

Form ISR-1, ticking signature as the detail to change, with Form ISR-2 from your bank attached.

What does the bank certify on Form ISR-2?

The bank confirms the holder's signature as recorded with it, against the account named on the form. Change your specimen at the bank first, then get Form ISR-2 signed.