Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation to Start Pet Registration Portal from Jan

Ahmedabad: New rules for pet parents are set to be enforced from January 1, 2025, in Ahmedabad, with pet dog registration now mandatory. 

Pet dog owners will now need to register their pets with the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) on their portal from New Year’s Day onwards. The registration process is mandatory and must be completed by March, according to an announcement made by the AMC on Thursday. 

The registration drive is set to streamline pet data collection and organization of roughly 50,000 pet dogs in the city.  Officials believe this number could increase once the registrations begin, with registration charges for 1 do g set at INR 200. The move is a welcome one, especially for civic authorities, who have been fighting an uphill battle against rabies and dog attack incidents without any data on dogs in the city.

 Requesting anonymity, an AMC official said, "The Gujarat Provincial Municipal Corporations Act requires registration of all pet animals. The law also states that it is mandatory to register a pet dog and obtain a licence to keep it at home. Various aspects related to pet dogs were studied, leading to the establishment of an online registration system." 

Another official said, "The mandatory registration will cost Rs 200 per pet. Ahmedabad has an estimated 50,000 pet dogs. For the online procedure, pet owners will need to upload the dog's annual vaccination records on the AMC portal besides their photo, contact number, Aadhaar card/voter ID, tax bill and electricity bill, a photo of their dog and details of the location where the pet is kept."

The AMC is also planning to launch a standalone app for registrations soon. "The app too will facilitate fee payment and downloading of the registration certificate," the official said. The plans don’t stop at just registration either; the AMC plans to mandate RFID pet microchips by October 2025 too. Such microchips contain a UIN, which will help authorities track the registration and vaccination status of dogs in the city. "An annual budget of Rs 1.80 crore has been approved for purchasing RFID chips and tags."

The official further said, "The central govt's health department set 2030 as the target to make the city rabies-free. A new policy is being developed as part of the Rabies-Free City Action Plan."

"This policy will determine the responsibilities of pet owners. They will be required to mandatorily register online and submit a vaccination certificate annually."  
Designated dog feeding spots are being planned as well, with areas that dogs can or cannot enter." This policy is being developed considering the 2009 Supreme Court verdict, various high court rulings, the action plan and other laws related to pet dog," the official added.