Digital Registry: All waqf properties must be recorded in a centralised portal within six months, creating India’s first unified waqf database.
End to Verbal Declarations: The rules end verbal waqf claims and the waqf-by-user practice, requiring formal registration with documented evidence.
State Role Critical: While the Centre has notified the main rules, states must now draft detailed procedures and ensure compliance at the ground level.
The Union government on Friday formally notified the rules to implement the Waqf (Amendment) Act, 2025, laying out the framework for a nationwide digital system to register Islamic charitable endowments. The new rules, known as the Unified Waqf Management, Empowerment, Efficiency and Development (UMEED) Rules, 2025, focus primarily on operationalising a centralised online portal designed to bring transparency and accountability to the management of waqf properties across India.
The 32-page notification, issued by the Union Ministry of Minority Affairs, will be presented to Parliament during the upcoming monsoon session that begins on July 21. If lawmakers suggest changes, the updated version will be re-published in the Gazette, officials said.
A senior ministry official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the Act itself was “quite elaborate,” which allowed the accompanying rules to remain concise and centred around the portal’s functions. While the Centre has finalised its portion of the framework, the responsibility now shifts to state governments to draft their own detailed rules for implementation.
The amendments passed earlier this year inserted Section 108B into the original 1995 Waqf Act, empowering the Centre to regulate waqf asset management, registration, accounts, audits, and payments to vulnerable beneficiaries such as widows and orphans.
Under the new rules, every existing waqf must be uploaded to the UMEED portal within six months. State governments are required to publish surveyed lists of waqf properties and upload them within 90 days, with a provision for a further 90-day extension if necessary. Each waqf will be assigned a unique digital ID, and custodians (mutawallis) must enrol on the portal using an OTP authentication system linked to their mobile numbers and email addresses.
For any waqf created after the Act came into force, registration with the Central Waqf Board is mandatory within three months of creation. Applications must be submitted through the portal and include detailed property descriptions, income statements, tax and maintenance estimates, and supporting documents. District collectors will be responsible for verifying the genuineness of claims and must submit reports to the board within 60 days.
Importantly, the new rules effectively invalidate verbal waqf declarations and phase out the controversial waqf-by-user provision, which allowed properties to be treated as waqf simply because they were used for religious activities over time.
Additionally, widows, divorced women, and orphans can now apply for maintenance from dormant family waqfs (waqf-alal-aulad) by providing proof of identity and residence. All payments will be processed electronically.
(This story is published from a syndicated feed)