New Delhi, Sept. 27 -- The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Saturday announced sweeping changes in the procedure of the special intensive revision (SIR), relaxed hearing requirements and extended the deadline for submission of documents for Delhi and Maharashtra, responding to mounting criticism of the controversial exercise that has disenfranchised millions of people. In a meeting of chief election commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and election commissioners SS Sandhu and Vivek Joshi - the first such public meeting since controversy broke out over the poll body's conduct - ECI also ordered a review of its ECINET portal and defended an addition to Form 6 - used by new electors to enrol themselves - by claiming that the Supreme Court upheld it. In the ongoing SIR in Delhi and Maharashtra, ECI extended every deadline by roughly a month. "In view of the request received from CEO Delhi, the period for filing claims and objections has been extended by the commission till 30th October, 2026. The period of disposal of notices and claims & objections has been extended till 30th November 2026," ECI said in a note. The original schedule had provided voters time until September 30 to file claims and objections, while a deadline of October 29 was set for disposal of claims, followed by publication of the rolls on November 4. Roughly 3.3 million people in Delhi have been sent notices for logical discrepancy and 3.1 million already excluded from the draft roll. The final rolls for the Capital will now be published on December 4. "Also, as per the request received from CEO Maharashtra, the period for filing claims and objections in Maharashtra has been extended by the Commission till 12th October, 2026. The period of disposal of notices and claims & objections in Maharashtra has been extended till 10th November 2026." The final voter list of Maharashtra, first supposed to be published on October 7, will now be published on November 12. When the draft rolls were published on August 31, they excluded nearly 20.7 million voters and an additional 12.2 million were served notices under the logical discrepancies category. ECI also announced large-scale changes in the SIR procedure, saying voters issued notices "for being unmapped and logical discrepancies" will no longer need to appear for a personal hearing before the electoral registration officer (ERO). Booth level officers (BLOs) will visit such voters at home to collect documents, which will be uploaded to the ECINET portal "for decision by the ERO." A hearing will be held "only in exceptional circumstances, as decided by the ERO," and will "preferably" be conducted online, with such facilities to be strengthened. The commission said "any adult member of the family can be authorised by the elector to attend the hearing on their behalf, if required." The changes will help the roughly 17.6 million people across 16 states and three Union territories who are facing the prospect of being struck off the final electoral rolls over logical discrepancy - flagged by ECI software for name mismatches, typos, age gaps between parents and applicants, and number of children. Until now, applicants had to physically appear before EROs on a prescribed date and time to furnish their papers, causing hardships for ordinary people. The facility of home visits was largely limited to the controversial category of VIP voters. ECI said district election officers were asked to "create adequate number of help desks/hold special camps" for people living in night shelters, and for labourers, the poor and the homeless, "as per requirement." The developments came days after an Indian Express investigation said Sandhu and Joshi had recorded written dissents and objections at least 14 times between November 2025 and August 2026 and even written to the cabinet secretary. It also alleged that election officials found their access to the ECI software curtailed by the central IT team. ECI has said differing views and observations were a normal part of deliberation and that all its digital platforms operated under strict data security protocols to prevent unauthorised tampering or manipulation. But questions continued to simmer, both from the Opposition - which is preparing to bring an impeachment notice against Kumar - and within the ruling coalition. According to the Indian Express report, Sandhu and Joshi had objected to an addition to the online version of Form 6 - that added new requirements for linking new voters or their family members to previous electoral rolls - without modifying India's voting rules. But in its note, ECI clarified that the declaration "has been upheld by the Supreme Court," and that outside the SIR period, forms "applicable as per Rules (the Registration of Electors Rules 1960) will be used." This likely means that after SIR, Form 6 will drop its SIR mapping requirements online. "Outside the SIR period, Form 6 will not have the provision where voters will be expected to map themselves or their family members to previous rolls," an ECI official told HT. In its May 2026 judgment upholding the Bihar SIR, the apex court had held that ECI held a "degree of residual authority to formulate an appropriate documentation framework suited to the exigencies of a Special Intensive Revision." "Two questions should not be conflated: one concerns ECI's power to tailor the documentation regime for SIR; the other is whether that power extends to modifying a statutory form without amending the rules under which it is prescribed. The court prima facie did not decide the latter," said Swapnil Tripathi of Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy. ECI also responded to criticism of its ECINET system, saying a committee headed by a senior deputy election commissioner, "including an independent expert from IIT/IIIT," will "review the ECINET to double-check that it complies with the provisions of the acts and rules" and submit a report to the commission. It said any further flexibility required by field officers "will be made operational," and that going forward, "all the new initiatives about IT modules and portals will be discussed in the Committee of Officers (COO) before approval by the commission." About the 20 states or UTs where SIR is already complete, ECI said any person whose name got left out may apply afresh for inclusion of their name in the electoral rolls under the process of continuous updation. It directed the respective CEOs to facilitate such applications and launch a special drive for their enrolment....