The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Saturday eased the procedure for voters who have received notices during the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, while ordering a review of its ECINet platform amid reports of differences between two election commissioners over the functioning of the poll panel's IT systems.
At a meeting at Nirvachan Sadan attended by Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi, the Commission said voters served notices over being "unmapped and logical discrepancies" would generally no longer be required to appear personally before the Electoral Registration Officer (ERO).
Instead, Booth Level Officers (BLOs) will visit the concerned voters at their homes, collect the necessary documents and upload them to ECINet for the ERO to take a decision.
A personal hearing will be required only in "exceptional circumstances", as determined by the ERO. The Commission said such hearings should preferably be held online and that facilities for online hearings would be strengthened.
It also said an adult member of a voter's family could be authorised to attend a hearing on the elector's behalf, if one is required.
Delhi, Maharashtra get more time to file claims
The Commission has also extended the deadlines for claims and objections in Delhi and Maharashtra following requests from the chief electoral officers of the two states.
In Delhi, the deadline for filing claims and objections has been extended until October 30, 2026. The deadline for disposing of notices, claims and objections has been extended until November 30.
In Maharashtra, claims and objections can now be filed until October 12, 2026, while their disposal has been extended until November 10.
The ECI also directed district election officers to create an adequate number of help desks and hold special camps, as required, for people living in night shelters as well as labourers, poor people and homeless persons.
The Commission reiterated that the declaration attached to Form 6 for the SIR had been upheld by the Supreme Court. It said that outside the SIR period, the forms applicable under the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960, would be used.
The Supreme Court had separately raised concerns earlier this week over the manner in which notices were being issued during the Delhi SIR and suggested that voters should be allowed to respond through electronic means such as WhatsApp and email.
Panel to examine ECINet compliance
The ECI has now decided to constitute a committee headed by a senior deputy election commissioner to review ECINet. The panel will include an independent expert from an IIT or IIIT and will examine whether the platform complies with the provisions of the relevant Acts and Rules.
The committee will submit its findings to the Commission.
The ECI also said that any additional flexibility required by field officers would be made operational. Going forward, it said, all new initiatives involving IT modules and portals would first be discussed in the Committee of Officers (COO) before being placed before the Commission for approval.
The move comes amid questions over the functioning and control of the poll panel's electoral-roll technology. ECINet, launched in January 2026, brought together more than 40 applications and portals used by the Commission.
The Indian Express had reported that Sandhu and Joshi separately wrote to Cabinet Secretary TV Somanathan after objecting to changes in work allocation that they believed had removed a layer of oversight over the ECI's IT backbone.
The Commission, however, said on Saturday that the letters were "not related to any policy matter of the Commission or IT division but related to working of an officer on deputation to ECI."
It said work redistribution orders issued by the concerned officer were not implemented after directions from the two commissioners and maintained that oversight of the IT division by the deputy election commissioner had never actually been withdrawn.
The Indian Express had reported that Sandhu and Joshi raised concerns over the centralisation of electoral-roll data and access available to statutory election officials. Their objections reportedly stretched over several months and included questions about IT modules, Form 6 and the access of electoral authorities to the roll-management system.
ECI reiterates unanimity over SIR decisions
The Commission on Saturday also sought to clarify that its principal decisions concerning the SIR were taken unanimously.
It said its June 24, 2025 SIR order was issued with the "unanimous approval of the Commission" and had been upheld by the Supreme Court of India. It added that the schedules issued for the SIR were also approved unanimously.
The ECI said the SIR had already been completed in 20 states and Union territories, including Bihar and West Bengal.
It has now directed chief electoral officers, district election officers and EROs to immediately begin special drives to enrol people who were left out of the electoral rolls, including young and first-time voters, through the continuous updation process.
The Commission cited Goa as an example. BLOs there were instructed to conduct house-to-house visits to voters left out of the rolls and collect their Form 6 applications. Of 97 voters identified in the exercise, 81 had already filed Form 6 for inclusion, according to the ECI.
The final number of electors nationwide, the Commission said, will be known only after the final publication of electoral rolls in the remaining 12 states covered under Phase III.
The latest measures come as the ECI faces heightened scrutiny over the SIR process and its internal functioning. The Commission's Saturday meeting was the first full meeting involving all three commissioners amid the recent reports of differences over the poll panel's IT systems.