Ration cards: new cards, name changes, and the "file charge" that isn't

A ration card is an entitlement document under the National Food Security Act; for many families the difference between subsidised grain and none. The demands cluster around new cards and adding a newborn or a bride's name.

What actually costs money, and what doesn't

New card / modification	Free or a nominal published fee depending on the state. Check your state food & civil supplies portal. Nothing beyond it is payable.
"File charge" / "verification visit" money	Not a thing. Verification is the department's job.

The official path

Apply on your state's food & civil supplies portal (or at the designated seva kendra) with the listed documents. Most states run this online end to end.
Keep the acknowledgement number; timelines for issue are notified under most states' Right to Public Services Acts.
Name additions (birth, marriage) are standard modifications with their own document lists: birth certificate, marriage proof.
Collect the card or download the e-card; ration entitlement shows on the portal against the card number.

Your rights

Food security is a statutory entitlement: a card wrongly refused or stalled is appealable to the District Food Supply Officer.
Fair-price shops must display stock and entitlements; short-weighing and "pay to collect" are themselves offences.
Notified timelines apply in most states; delay beyond them is a grievance with a designated appellate officer.
RTI reaches ration files like any other record.

If the demand comes anyway

Say: "The application and documents are complete and the acknowledgement number is with me. If a fee applies, show me the notification and give me a receipt. Otherwise I will escalate to the District Food Supply Officer after the notified timeline."

Calm beats angry: a demand needs deniability, and a citizen who asks for the fee head, the receipt, and the written defect memo takes the deniability away. Then record it here. Even the refusals, especially the refusals.

If refusing stalls your file

District Food & Civil Supplies Officer, in writing, with the acknowledgement number.
State food portal grievance / helpline (most states run a PDS helpline).
State ACB / Lokayukta for the demand itself.