Lost Your Documents? Police Report and Duplicate Copy Process

If you have lost an important document, the usual sequence is simple: report the loss to the police and get a written acknowledgement, then apply for a duplicate to the authority that issued the original, usually with an affidavit of loss and sometimes an indemnity bond. Losing something is not a crime, so most people need a lost report rather than an FIR. If the document was stolen, that is theft, and an FIR is the correct route.

The details change with the document. A passport cannot be duplicated at all, a school board has its own portal, a vehicle registration certificate follows a specific form under the motor vehicle rules, and lost share certificates of listed companies follow SEBI's procedure. This guide walks through each, and then through the two documents that almost every issuer asks for.

Lost report or FIR: which one you need

An FIR is the record of information about a cognizable offence. Since 1 July 2024 it is governed by Section 173 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 (BNSS), which replaced Section 154 of the old CrPC. Section 173 allows the information to be given orally or by electronic communication. Information sent electronically is taken on record once the informant signs it within three days, and the informant is entitled to a free copy.

A simple loss, where you dropped a wallet or left a file on a train, does not involve any offence. Police stations and State police websites record these as lost article or lost document reports. The name, the format and whether you can file online all vary by State. What matters for the issuing authority is that you have a dated police acknowledgement listing the document and its number.

If someone took the document, for example a bag snatched with your passport in it, that is theft under Section 303 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, and you should ask for an FIR. If the police refuse, the law gives you further steps, which are covered in our guide on what to do when police refuse to register an FIR. Our planned guide on Zero FIR and e-FIR explains filing at any station or online.

What to put in the police lost report

Issuing authorities reject reports that are vague. A lost report that says only 'lost some documents near the market' will not help you get a duplicate passport or share certificate. Include:

• Your full name, address and contact details, matching your ID.
• Each document by type and number: passport number, registration number of the vehicle, roll number and year for a marksheet, folio number and certificate numbers for shares.
• Whether any of the documents could be misused, such as a cheque book or a signed blank form, so the record shows you flagged it early.
• The date, approximate time and place where you last had the documents.
• How the loss happened, briefly and truthfully.
• A request for a stamped or digitally generated acknowledgement.

You can prepare this in advance using our lost document police report format, so that the station only needs to record and acknowledge it. Keep several photocopies or the PDF, because each issuer will want its own copy. If the police station will not accept a report for a simple loss, ask the station house officer for the reason in writing, or use the State portal where one exists.

Passport: a re-issue, not a duplicate

The Passport Seva FAQs on lost passports say that duplicate passports are not issued. You apply under the re-issue category and give 'lost/damaged passport' as the reason. The new passport carries a different number and fresh validity.

The documents listed by Passport Seva for a lost passport include the police report in original and an affidavit explaining how and where the passport was lost, in the format called Annexure F. A photocopy of the old passport is not mandatory but should be given if you have one. If you lose your passport abroad, report it to the local police and the Indian Mission or Post, which can issue an Emergency Certificate for the journey home.

Marksheets and school certificates

Each examining body issues its own duplicates. CBSE runs an online portal called the Duplicate Academic Document System (DADS), launched in June 2021, through which students can apply for duplicate marksheets, passing certificates and migration certificates and choose a digital or printed copy. State boards and universities have their own forms and fees, and some still require a visit to the regional office. Most will ask for the police report, an affidavit of loss and identification, and some ask for a newspaper notice. Check the board's current instructions before you swear the affidavit, so that it uses the wording they expect. Where the board offers a digital copy through its own portal or DigiLocker, that copy may be enough for admissions and jobs while the printed duplicate is processed.

Vehicle RC, PAN card and property papers

Vehicle registration certificate

Rule 53 of the Central Motor Vehicles Rules, 1989 sets out the steps when an RC is lost or destroyed. The owner must report the loss to the police station where it happened and inform the registering authority in writing. The application for a duplicate goes to the last registering authority in Form 26, with the fee fixed under the rules. Most States now accept this through the transport department's online services, but the rule itself is the same everywhere. If there is a loan on the vehicle, the financier may also need to be involved.

PAN card

Your PAN, the ten-character number, is never lost. Only the card is. Protean, one of the two agencies authorised to handle PAN services, offers a combined 'changes or correction in existing PAN data / reprint of PAN card' request, and a reprint keeps the same number. Do not apply for a new PAN to replace a lost card, because holding two PANs creates its own problems with the Income Tax Department.

Original property documents

There is no duplicate of an original registered sale deed or gift deed. What you can get is a certified copy from the sub-registrar's office where the deed was registered, which carries the same details as the registered original. When you later sell or mortgage the property, buyers and lenders commonly ask for the police report, the certified copy, a public notice in newspapers inviting objections, and an indemnity from you. Start collecting these as soon as you notice the loss, rather than at the time of sale. Where a bank held the originals as security and lost them, ask the bank to help you obtain certified copies and to confirm the loss to you in writing.

Share certificates in a listed company

Lost physical share certificates of a listed company are handled by the company's registrar and share transfer agent (RTA) under SEBI's rules. SEBI's circular of 24 December 2025 revised the procedure first standardised in May 2022. The documents now depend on the value of the securities on the date you apply:

• Up to Rs 10,000: an undertaking in SEBI's format on plain paper, with no notarisation.
• Above Rs 10,000 and up to Rs 10 lakh: an Affidavit-cum-Indemnity bond in SEBI's format, on non-judicial stamp paper of the value required by the Stamp Act of the State where you live.
• Above Rs 10 lakh: the same Affidavit-cum-Indemnity bond plus a copy of an FIR, e-FIR, police complaint, court injunction order or accepted plaint that gives the folio number, certificate numbers and distinctive number range. The company also publishes a newspaper advertisement about the loss and may charge a small fee for it.

SEBI requires duplicate securities to be issued only in dematerialised form, so you will need a demat account. If you do not know your folio or certificate numbers, the RTA can provide them on a written request once your signature and address match its records. You can prepare the declaration with our indemnity for lost share certificate template, but check it against the format annexed to SEBI's circular, because RTAs are told to insist on the prescribed format. For an unlisted or private company, the company's own procedure applies, so ask its company secretary what it needs.

The affidavit of loss

An affidavit of loss is a sworn statement that the document was lost, how and when, that you have not pledged or transferred it, and that you will return it if found. Because it is made on oath before a notary or oath commissioner, a false statement in it has consequences. Our affidavit of loss template covers the standard paragraphs. Make sure the document numbers match the police report exactly, since a mismatch is the most common reason for a request to be returned. For the general rules on swearing and attesting, see our guide to affidavits in India.

The indemnity bond

An indemnity bond is a promise to make good any loss the issuer suffers because it relied on your statement, for example if the original turns up in someone else's hands and is used. Banks, companies, insurers and universities ask for it whenever a duplicate could be misused. A standard indemnity bond names the issuer, describes the document, and contains your undertaking to compensate. Some issuers also ask for a surety, though SEBI has dropped that requirement for duplicate securities. Read the bond before signing it. An open-ended promise to cover 'all losses of any kind' is common in bank formats, and you are entitled to ask that it be limited to losses arising from the duplicate.

Step by step after a loss

1. Make a list of every document lost, with numbers taken from photocopies, emails, DigiLocker or old applications.
2. Block anything that can be misused at once: bank cards, cheque books and SIM cards through the bank and operator.
3. File a lost report at the police station or on your State police portal, or an FIR if the documents were stolen, and keep the acknowledgement.
4. Check each issuer's current requirements: Passport Seva, your board or university, the transport department, Protean or UTIITSL, the company's RTA.
5. Prepare the affidavit of loss and, where asked, the indemnity bond, on the stamp paper your State requires, and get them notarised if the issuer asks.
6. Publish a newspaper notice only where the issuer requires one, and keep the full page as proof.
7. Submit each application, track it, and store scanned copies of the new documents safely.

If a stolen document is later misused, for example to open accounts or take loans in your name, the problem becomes a criminal complaint. LegalFirms has a useful note on how an FIR differs from a complaint, and in a serious case it is worth getting help from a criminal lawyer.