Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Amendment Act 2026: What Changed

The Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Amendment Act, 2026 (Act No. 3 of 2026) was introduced in the Lok Sabha on 13 March 2026, passed by the Lok Sabha on 24 March and the Rajya Sabha on 25 March, and received the President's assent on 30 March 2026. Section 1(2) left commencement to notification, and the Act was brought into force by notification in May 2026. It is now operative law. The amendments narrow who the 2019 Act recognises as a transgender person, route identity certification through a medical board, and add a new set of offences. This post sets out what actually changed.

The Narrowed Statutory Definition

The amended section 2(k) replaces the open definition in the 2019 Act with a closed list. It covers persons with the socio-cultural identities of kinner, hijra, aravani, jogta or eunuch; persons with intersex variations, meaning congenital variations in sex characteristics including primary sexual characteristics, external genitalia, chromosomal patterns, gonadal development, and endogenous hormone production or response; and any person or child who has been compelled, by force, allurement, inducement, deceit or undue influence, to assume, adopt or outwardly present a transgender identity by mutilation, emasculation, castration, amputation, or any surgical, chemical or hormonal procedure.

Self-Perceived Gender Identity No Longer Recognised

Two changes work together here. The definition now carries an express exclusion: it "shall not include, nor shall ever have been so included, persons with different sexual orientations and self-perceived sexual identities." Separately, the provision of the 2019 Act conferring on a recognised person the right to a self-perceived gender identity has been omitted. The combined effect is that self-identification is no longer the statutory basis for recognition. Trans man, trans woman and genderqueer are not among the listed categories. This is the provision most directly in tension with NALSA v. Union of India (2014).

Certification Now Runs Through a Medical Board

The amended section 2(aa) defines a medical board as a board headed by a Chief Medical Officer or a Deputy Chief Medical Officer, appointed by the Central Government, a State Government or a Union territory Administration. Under the amended section 6, the District Magistrate issues a certificate of identity after examining the recommendation of the authority and, if he considers it either necessary or desirable, after taking the assistance of other medical experts. The practical shift is from an application-based process to one gated by medical verification.

Mandatory Reporting After Gender Change Surgery

Section 7 has been changed from permissive to mandatory: a person who undergoes gender change surgery "shall" apply for a revised certificate, where previously they "may" do so. A new section 7(1A) places a duty on the medical institution, requiring it to furnish the person's details to the concerned District Magistrate and the authority in the prescribed form and manner. On the other side of the ledger, a new section 6(4) entitles a certificate holder to change their first name in their birth certificate and all other official documents.

The New Offences Under Section 18

Section 18 now runs to eight limbs. Clauses (a) to (d) carry six months to two years with fine, and cover compelling forced or bonded labour, denying access to a public place, forcing a person to leave their residence, and causing harm, injury or abuse. The serious limbs are new. Clause (e), kidnapping or abducting an adult with intent to compel a transgender identity, carries ten years to life with a fine of not less than two lakh rupees; clause (f), the same against a child, carries life imprisonment with a fine of not less than five lakh rupees. Clause (g), compelling a person to present as transgender for begging or servitude, carries five to ten years with a fine of not less than one lakh rupees, and clause (h), the same against a child, ten to fourteen years with a fine of not less than three lakh rupees.

Where the Constitutional Challenge Stands

The Act is under challenge but has not been suspended. On 4 May 2026 a bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi declined interim relief, recording that there was no question of an interim stay, and issued notice to the Union and the States. On 15 June 2026 a bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justice V. Mohana, hearing transfer petitions filed by the Union, stayed the proceedings then pending before the Rajasthan, Karnataka, Kerala and Delhi High Courts, and indicated that the petitions would either be transferred to the Supreme Court or consolidated before a single High Court. A reference to a larger bench was canvassed in view of NALSA.

Until the Supreme Court decides, the amended Act governs. For anyone advising on gender recognition, the practical consequences are immediate: recognition now depends on falling within one of the listed categories in section 2(k) rather than on self-identification, certification involves medical verification, and a revised certificate after surgery is compulsory rather than optional, with a reporting duty on the treating institution. Advisers should also note that the status of the section 18 offences as cognizable or non-bailable is not stated in the Act as enacted.