Volunteer Credits: Thank you Renee Owley-Showacy for editing!

For citizens who don’t want to pay a bribe – whether on principle or for economic reasons, Juhi’s experience is instructive. It takes persistence, and Zen Citizen exists to guide that persistence, bringing predictability to what often feels like chaos.

Prologue – Highlights from conversation between Juhi and Zen Citizen

July 18, 2025

After struggling for two and a half months, Juhi gave up on getting her marriage certificate through the Kaveri portal without paying a bribe.

Juhi: I am honestly reaching a point where I want to give up. And as much as I appreciate all the effort you’re putting into this to help me out, I’m getting very drained trying this approach. I’m also feeling super guilty always coming to you with my problems. I have a hectic job and some family issues ongoing and this being an open item is really bothering me. I just wanna close it and move on, you know??

I have friends getting married later this year in Bangalore and my last resort is to go directly to the SRO with them (as they know Kannada and I feel like the bribe will be lesser lol) and get it done along with them there. Be each others’ witness types.

I am sorry for giving up but I’m just not able to fight this battle anymore.

Zen Citizen: Please don’t feel guilty about reaching out to us – your inputs help us set expectations for readers. Hope you have a smoother experience when you go to the SRO. Please keep us posted.

Aug 18, 2025

The End – Finally sorted

Juhi: Long time! I guess when I had given up, all the effort you put followed its natural course and guess what? I received my Marriage Certificate the day before!!! Firstly, THANK YOU THANK YOU SO SO MUCH !!!! I cannot express how grateful I am for all the effort you and the team at Zen have provided. And secondly, I wanted to write a detailed email with timestamps for all the steps you and I took, so in case you need to publish an article, it gets easier. So here goes.

Zen Citizen: Oh Juhi, thank you so much for sharing. For a couple of weeks after we last connected, I wondered if there was any point to the work we are doing. In fact, in the July monthly update here, I shared about feeling powerless. And then seeing this email gives me a renewed sense of hope and energy – if we persist a bit more and spot patterns across cases, we can figure a way out of this bureaucratic mess.

Timeline of Juhi’s Marriage Certificate Journey

April 2025

Application Submitted (22/4/25) – First applied and submitted the marriage registration application on the Kaveri portal.

May 2025

First Rejection (12/5/25) – Application rejected for the first time with the remarks: “plz upload 2b size recent joint together clear photo in form 1a and upload marriage photo with marriage card in 1 pdf.”

Photo Resubmission (18/5/25) – Uploaded a clearer photo where both were looking at the camera and attached it in the wedding card PDF.

Second Rejection (21/5/25) – Application rejected again. Remarks: “plz upload 2 b size recent joint together photo in form 1a.”

Filed First RTI (22/5/25) – By law a response is required within 30 days, i.e., by 22/6/25.

June 2025

RTI Follow-Up (7/6/25) – RTI transferred twice (Secretariat Revenue → another PIO).

Email to PIO (13/6/25) – No response.

Phone Calls to PIO (25/6/25) – Directed to two other people; calls eventually went unanswered. No response was received within the 30-day period required for an RTI.

First Appeal Filed (30/6/25) – Zen Citizen submitted a first appeal. By law a response is required within 30 days, i.e., by 30/7/25

July 2025

No Progress (18/7/25) – Spoke to the PIO; no movement. Juhi gave up.

August 2025

SRO Call (8/8/25) – Initial call in Kannada, then Hindi. Officer was aggressive, asking to re-upload photos without explanation. Coordinating e-signatures with four witnesses again was painful.

Application Approved (16/8/25) – Received message that application was approved and payment could be made. After payment, the certificate was downloadable. Another SRO officer called, insisting the previous rejection was due to in-laws being in the photo (they weren’t). Juhi thanked him and closed the call.