Rules 62 explained: this guide covers what it means, who it applies to, the step-by-step process, documents required, fees, due dates and penalties in India — so you can stay compliant with confidence and avoid costly mistakes.
Rules 62 to 64 describe what happens when the renewal fee of a geographical indication or authorised user is not paid on time. Rule 62 allows removal from the register, with a six-month window to save the entry. Rule 63 allows restoration and renewal after that window. Rule 64 requires notice and advertisement once renewal or restoration is done.
If the renewal fee is not paid at expiry, the Registrar may remove the entry and advertise this in the Journal, but cannot do so if Form GI-4 with the fee and appropriate surcharge arrives within six months of expiry. After six months and within one year, the proprietor or authorised user may apply on Form GI-4 for restoration and renewal under section 18(5). After renewal or restoration, notice goes to the holder and the Journal carries an advertisement.
Rule 62: removal and its proviso
Rule 62 says that if, "at the expiration of last registration of a geographical indication or an authorised user, the renewal fees has not been paid", the Registrar "may remove" the entry from the register "and advertise the fact forthwith in the Journal". The word is "may". The Registrar has discretion, and the rule sits beside the duty of notice in rule 61, which we cover in our article on the notice before removal.
The proviso, printed after the rule, sets a safeguard: "the Registrar shall not remove" the entry "if an application is made in Form GI-4 within six months from the expiration of the last registration ... accompanied by prescribed fees and appropriate surcharge". So there are two layers:
- At expiry, with no fee, removal is possible.
- But an application in Form GI-4, with the fee and the surcharge, within six months of expiry stops removal.
The fee entry for this is entry 4C of the First Schedule, "on application for renewal under proviso to section 18(4)", Form GI-4, Rs. 1,000, as per the First Schedule as substituted in November 2025. Entry 4A, renewal at the expiration of the last registration, is Rs. 500. The text of the Rules does not spell out how the Rs. 1,000 of entry 4C is to be read alongside the ordinary renewal fee, and the rule's own word "surcharge" does not appear in the Schedule entry. A cautious holder should confirm with the Registry which amounts are due together. The 2025 Schedule no longer ties entry 4C to the proviso to rule 62; it speaks only of section 18(4).
Societies that hold several entries often handle these dates through a geographical indication registration adviser, because each entry has its own expiry date.
Rule 63: restoration after six months
Rule 63 is for the holder who has missed even the six-month window. An application "for the restoration of a geographical indication or authorised user to the register and renewal of its registration under sub-section (5) of section 18" must be made "in Form GI-4 after six months and within one year from the expiration of the last registration", "accompanied by the prescribed fee".
Entry 4B of the First Schedule covers this: "on application under section 18(5) for restoration of geographical indication or authorised user removed from the Register", Form GI-4, Rs. 1,000 "plus applicable renewal fees", as per the First Schedule as substituted in November 2025.
Note the arithmetic of the dates. The rule runs from the expiration of the last registration:
| Period counted from expiry | What can be done | Rule and form |
|---|---|---|
| Up to expiry (renewal opens not more than six months before) | Ordinary renewal | Rule 60, Form GI-4 (or GI 3B for an authorised user), entry 4A or 3B |
| Within six months after expiry | Renewal with prescribed fees and appropriate surcharge; Registrar cannot remove | Rule 62 proviso, Form GI-4, entry 4C |
| After six months and within one year after expiry | Restoration and renewal under section 18(5) | Rule 63, Form GI-4, entry 4B |
| After one year | The rules provide no route in this part | Rule 63 sets one year as the outer limit |
For the ordinary renewal route see our article on rule 60.
Protecting those who stepped in meanwhile
Rule 63 adds a duty for the Registrar: "while considering the request for registration", the Registrar "shall ... have regard to the interest of the persons who have either applied or registered identical or deceptively similar geographical indication or other affected persons in the intervening period". This is the price of delay. Between removal and restoration, another person may have applied for, or obtained registration of, an identical or deceptively similar indication. The Registrar must weigh their position. A restoration is therefore not automatic, and a holder should not treat the one-year period as a right to restoration.
The same section 18 of the Act is behind all three rules; see our article on duration, renewal, removal and restoration of registration and, for the consequence of removal, the article on section 19.
Rule 64: notice and advertisement
Rule 64 is short. "Upon the renewal or restoration and renewal of registration, a notice to that effect shall be sent to the registered proprietor or the concerned authorised user and the said renewal or restoration and renewal shall be advertised in the Journal." There are two duties, both "shall": a notice to the holder, and an advertisement in the Journal. The rule gives no time limit for either, and the text is silent on the form of the notice.
Who applies
Rules 62 and 63 speak of the "geographical indication or authorised user" together, so they apply to both kinds of entry. Who may file, though, is governed by rule 60: the proprietor, failing which any of the authorised users on record; where the proprietor has ceased to exist, authorised users acting collectively whose names are in Part B on the due date.
An example
Taranga Handloom Producers Society forgot the expiry of its registration on 31 March. On 20 August (within six months) the secretary files Form GI-4 with the prescribed fee and surcharge. Under the proviso to rule 62 the Registrar cannot remove the entry. Had the society filed on 15 January of the next year, more than six months but within one year after expiry, it would use rule 63 and apply for restoration and renewal, and the Registrar would consider any identical or deceptively similar indication applied for or registered in between. After the renewal or restoration, rule 64 requires a notice to the society and an advertisement in the Journal.
Drafting points to note
- The proviso under rule 62 appears unnumbered after the rule and a page-break marker in the text; treat it as the proviso to rule 62.
- Rule 62 refers to Form GI-4 only. For an authorised user's ordinary renewal the form is Form GI 3B (since 2020), but rule 62 and rule 63 name only Form GI-4.
- The Rules do not say how long the Registrar has to decide a restoration.
Amendments made after November 2025 should be checked before acting.
Need help with restoring a GI entry?
A missed renewal date is easier to fix inside the six-month window than after it. Our geographical indication registration team can check which window you are in and prepare the Form GI-4. If the removal has already been advertised, we will compare the position with the dates above before you file.
Key takeaways
- Rule 62: the Registrar may remove an entry at expiry for unpaid renewal fee and advertise it in the Journal.
- The proviso bars removal if Form GI-4 with fees and appropriate surcharge arrives within six months of expiry.
- Rule 63: restoration and renewal is by Form GI-4 after six months and within one year of expiry.
- The Registrar must consider others who applied or registered identical or deceptively similar indications in the interval.
- Rule 64: notice to the holder and advertisement in the Journal follow renewal or restoration.
- Fee entries: 4A, 4B and 4C of the November 2025 First Schedule.
Read next
- Rule 61: notice before removal from the register
- Rule 60: renewal of registration
- Section 18 of the GI Act: duration, renewal, removal and restoration
- Ten-year term and renewal of a GI registration
Disclaimer: Based on the Geographical Indications of Goods (Registration and Protection) Rules, 2002 as notified on 8 March 2002 and as amended by the Amendment Rules of 2020 (G.S.R. 528(E)) and 2025 (G.S.R. 812(E)), as consulted on 2 October 2026. Later amendment rules, forms and fees should be checked in their current form. This article is general information, not legal advice; check the official text before acting.