Glossary: Karnataka and Telangana Land and Municipal Records
Auction Dunia · Law and portal facts checked as of · 11 min read
The short answer
Karnataka and Telangana each keep three kinds of property record: the land or revenue record (the RTC on Bhoomi; the record of rights on Bhu Bharati), the municipal or panchayat tax record (the e-Khata, the e-Swathu forms, the PTIN), and the registration record (the encumbrance certificate). None of them is title on its own. This glossary says what each term means, which Act or official portal it comes from, and the names that changed in 2025 and 2026.
Key points
- A Khata, e-Khata or PTIN is a tax record, not title. Ownership comes from the registered documents, or for an auction buyer the sale certificate.
- e-Khata is the format; A-Khata and B-Khata are the status inside it. A B-Khata records a property for tax without the approvals an A-Khata reflects.
- The RTC is a revenue record of land; the encumbrance certificate is a registration record of documents. They answer different questions and both are read.
- A survey number is a revenue identifier of land; a PID or ePID is a municipal identifier of a property. The same flat can carry all three.
- Bhu Bharati replaced Dharani in Telangana from 14 April 2025, and the Greater Bengaluru Authority with five city corporations replaced BBMP in September 2025.
- A hit on Telangana’s s.22-A prohibited list is not an automatic failure, and a miss is not clearance; the list has known errors under correction.
Karnataka: land and revenue records
| Term | What it means | Where it comes from |
|---|---|---|
| Bhoomi | Karnataka’s computerised land-records system, where the RTC, the mutation register and survey sketches can be viewed online. Online views are a starting point; a title opinion relies on certified copies. | Official portal: landrecords.karnataka.gov.in |
| RTC (Pahani) | The Record of Rights, Tenancy and Crops for a survey number: the holder, the extent, the kind of land, cultivation and recorded liabilities. For a flat or a layout plot, the RTC of the parent survey number shows whether the land was converted and can carry government, acquisition or grant entries. | Karnataka Land Revenue Act, 1964; Bhoomi |
| Mutation register (MR) | The revenue entry recording a change in who holds the land, by sale, inheritance, partition or grant. Each change of holder on the RTC should trace to a mutation entry. | Karnataka Land Revenue Act, 1964; Bhoomi (“View RTC and MR”) |
| Survey number and hissa | The revenue number of a parcel of land, and the number of a sub-division within it (the hissa). It identifies land in the revenue record and is not the same as a municipal property number. | Common usage; survey and settlement records |
| DC conversion | The order permitting agricultural land to be used for a non-agricultural purpose such as housing, named after the Deputy Commissioner who traditionally issued it. The procedure has been amended in recent years and the issuing office varies by area; what matters is that an order exists for the parent land. | Karnataka Land Revenue Act, 1964 s.95 |
| Granted land (PTCL land) | Land the Government granted to a person from a Scheduled Caste or Scheduled Tribe. A transfer against the grant terms, or without the Government’s previous permission, is void, and since 2023 the Act says there is no time limit to invoke it. | Karnataka SC and ST (Prohibition of Transfer of Certain Lands) Act, 1978 ss.3(1)(b), 4, 5 |
| Agricultural-land exclusion (both states) | SARFAESI does not apply to a security interest in agricultural land, so an auction schedule that still reads as farmland is itself a question to raise. | SARFAESI Act, 2002 s.31(i) |
Bengaluru: the Khata and the city corporations
| Term | What it means | Where it comes from |
|---|---|---|
| GBA and the five city corporations | The Greater Bengaluru Authority replaced BBMP. Five city corporations under it — Bengaluru Central, North, South, East and West, notified on 2 September 2025 — now keep property tax and the Khata. Papers that say “BBMP” describe the old structure. | Greater Bengaluru Governance Act, 2024; gba.karnataka.gov.in |
| Khata | The municipal record of a property for property tax: who is assessed and on what. It is not a title document; the Supreme Court has held that such entries neither create nor extinguish title (Supreme Court, 2021, SLP (C) 13146/2021). | Greater Bengaluru Governance Act, 2024 |
| e-Aasthi | The urban property system on which e-Khatas are issued, corrected and transferred, and where a property is found by its ePID. | Official portal: gbaeaasthi.karnataka.gov.in |
| e-Khata | The digital Khata issued on e-Aasthi. Kaveri 2.0 registration draws on it, so in practice a Bengaluru property is registered against its e-Khata. | e-Aasthi |
| ePID (EPID) | The electronic property ID that e-Aasthi gives each property. It is the reference for e-Khata applications, corrections and transfers. | e-Aasthi |
| PID | The older municipal property identification number, built from ward, street and property numbers. It is a municipal number, not a survey number. | Common usage (municipal records before e-Aasthi) |
| SAS application number | The property-tax application number under Bengaluru’s self-assessment scheme. It can also be used to find a property on e-Aasthi. | Common usage; e-Aasthi search |
| A-Khata | The status of a property in an approved layout or building, with land-use conversion in place. | Common usage; corporation records |
| B-Khata | A register that records for tax a property lacking one or more approvals, such as a revenue site or an unapproved layout. It is not regularisation or title. Schemes to move from B-Khata to A-Khata have changed more than once; read the current notification. | Common usage; corporation and State notifications |
| BDA | The Bangalore Development Authority, the planning and layout authority for the Bengaluru area. Its acquisition notifications are searched against the survey number. | Bangalore Development Authority Act, 1976 |
| Rajakaluve and lake buffers | A rajakaluve is a primary storm-water drain. Zoning regulations set no-build buffers from lakes and drains; the figures have been revised and further changes proposed, and a general 75 m lake buffer is not the law (Mantri Techzone v. Forward Foundation, Supreme Court, 2019). | Zoning regulations; Supreme Court, 2019 |
| BESCOM and BWSSB | Bengaluru’s electricity and water utilities. Their name transfers and any arrears are separate from the Khata. | Common usage |
Karnataka: panchayat records and registration
| Term | What it means | Where it comes from |
|---|---|---|
| e-Swathu | The rural property documentation system for gram panchayats, covering sites and buildings outside city corporation limits. | Official portal: eswathu.karnataka.gov.in |
| Form 9 | The panchayat’s register extract for a site or building on e-Swathu. | Karnataka Gram Swaraj and Panchayat Raj Act, 1993; e-Swathu |
| Form 11A | The panchayat extract showing the tax assessment and collection for a property. | Karnataka Gram Swaraj and Panchayat Raj Act, 1993; e-Swathu |
| Form 11B | The tax-only record used for properties that do not meet the conditions for Form 9 or 11A, such as a site without conversion or layout approval. The 2025 amendment says collecting such tax confers no right to regularisation, title or ownership. Descriptions of 11B vary, so read what the extract states. | Karnataka Gram Swaraj and Panchayat Raj (Amendment) Bill, 2025 |
| Kaveri 2.0 | The Department of Stamps and Registration’s online system for registration, encumbrance certificates, certified copies and guidance values. | Official portal: kaveri.karnataka.gov.in |
| Encumbrance certificate: Form 15 and Form 16 | Form 15 lists the registered transactions found for a property and period; Form 16, the “nil EC”, is issued when none are found. A nil EC is a search result for the details entered, not clear title. Kaveri’s online EC is commonly reported to start in 2004; earlier years need a certified search at the sub-registrar. | Common usage at Karnataka sub-registrar offices |
Telangana: land records and the prohibited list
| Term | What it means | Where it comes from |
|---|---|---|
| Bhu Bharati | Telangana’s land-records system and the Act behind it. The Act came into force on 14 April 2025 and repealed the 2020 Act on which Dharani ran. The portal shows land details, prohibited lands, encumbrance details and market value, and takes mutation, passbook and conversion applications. | Telangana Bhu Bharati (Record of Rights in Land) Act, 2025; bhubharati.telangana.gov.in |
| Dharani | The former integrated land-records portal, in use from 2020 until Bhu Bharati replaced it in April 2025. Older papers still refer to it. | Telangana Rights in Land and Pattadar Pass Books Act, 2020 (repealed) |
| Pahani | The village land record showing the holder, extent and cultivation of a survey number. In Karnataka the same word is used for the RTC. | Common usage; Telangana revenue records |
| Pattadar passbook | The passbook issued to the recorded holder (pattadar) of agricultural land, applied for and corrected on Bhu Bharati. It records the holding and is read alongside the registered documents. | Bhu Bharati Act, 2025; Bhu Bharati portal |
| Assigned land | Government land assigned to landless poor persons for cultivation or as a house site, on a condition against alienation. It may not be transferred except as the Act allows, and a transfer in breach is treated as never made. | Telangana Assigned Lands (Prohibition of Transfers) Act, 1977 ss.2(1), 3 |
| Section 22-A list (prohibited properties) | The list of properties whose documents the sub-registrar must refuse to register: government, assigned, endowment, Wakf and surplus land, and notified attached property. A hit needs the reason and a removal route; a miss is not clearance, because the list has known errors under correction. | Registration Act, 1908 s.22-A (as amended in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana); IGRS “Prohibited Property” |
| NALA conversion | Permission to use agricultural land for a non-agricultural purpose such as housing, now applied for on Bhu Bharati. The Telangana counterpart of Karnataka’s DC conversion. | Telangana Agricultural Land (Conversion for Non-Agricultural Purposes) Act, 2006 (Act 3 of 2006) |
| IGRS Telangana | The Registration and Stamps Department’s portal for encumbrance search, market values, certified copies, slot booking and the prohibited-property search. | Official portal: registration.telangana.gov.in |
Hyderabad: property tax, layouts and planning
| Term | What it means | Where it comes from |
|---|---|---|
| GHMC, Cyberabad and Malkajgiri corporations | GHMC absorbed 27 surrounding urban local bodies in December 2025 and was reorganised in February 2026 into three corporations: a residual GHMC, Cyberabad and Malkajgiri. The one that covers the ward now keeps the property-tax record. | GHMC Act, 1955; G.O.Ms.No.55 (2026), as reported |
| PTIN | The Property Tax Identification Number of a property in the Hyderabad corporations. It shows the assessed owner and any arrears. It is not a title document. | Official portal: ghmc.gov.in |
| Mutation (property tax) | The change of owner’s name on the assessment held under the PTIN. After a registered sale the sub-registrar collects the mutation fee; a sale certificate the bank only filed usually needs a separate application. | G.O.Ms.No.155 and G.O.Ms.No.192, MA&UD, 2016 |
| LRS | The Layout Regularisation Scheme, 2020, for plots in unapproved and illegal layouts. An LRS application or approval is a planning status, not title, and its terms have been revised since 2020. | Official portal: lrs.telangana.gov.in |
| HMDA and DTCP | The planning authorities that approve layouts and buildings: the Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority in its area, and the Directorate of Town and Country Planning elsewhere in the State. | Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority Act, 2008 |
| FTL and buffer zone | The full tank level of a lake, and the no-build zone beyond it. For notified lakes these are fixed by the authorities and enforced locally; check the specific lake. | Common usage; HMDA lake notifications |
| TGSPDCL and HMWSSB | Hyderabad’s electricity and water utilities. Their name transfers and arrears are separate from the property-tax mutation. | Common usage |
| OC and CC (both states) | The occupancy certificate, issued when a building is complete as approved, and the commencement certificate, which permits construction to begin. Lenders and later buyers commonly ask for both. | Building bye-laws of the local authority |
What the auction route cannot promise
- No land, municipal or panchayat record in this glossary establishes title on its own; a bank sale passes only the title the borrower had (SARFAESI Act s.13(6)).
- Names, portals and coverage change: BBMP, Dharani and the single GHMC have all been replaced since 2025, and online records may not reach back as far as a search needs. The definitions here are as of 19 October 2026.
- A glossary explains what a record is. Reading a specific property’s records still needs certified copies and an advocate’s view.
Questions buyers ask
Sources
Statutes, rules and judgments first. Checked as of 19 October 2026; the law and portal practice change, so confirm against the source before relying on a detail.
- StatuteKarnataka SC and ST (Prohibition of Transfer of Certain Lands) Act, 1978 — ss.3–7 (PRS)
- StatuteAndhra Pradesh (Telangana) Assigned Lands (Prohibition of Transfers) Act, 1977 (PRS)
- StatuteTelangana Agricultural Land (Conversion for Non-Agricultural Purposes) Act, 2006 — India Code
- StatuteKarnataka Gram Swaraj and Panchayat Raj (Amendment) Bill, 2025
- JudgmentTelangana High Court order (Apr 2026) noting repeal of the 2020 Act by s.23 of the Bhu Bharati Act, 2025
- JudgmentSupreme Court, order of 6 Sep 2021, SLP (C) 13146/2021 (mutation entries and title)
- Official portalBhoomi — Karnataka land records (RTC and MR)
- Official portale-Aasthi — Bengaluru e-Khata
- Official portale-Swathu — Karnataka rural property records
- Official portalBhu Bharati — Telangana land records
This guide explains the law and the process in general terms. It is not advice on any specific property; that belongs in a due diligence report on the property itself.
A specific property in mind?
Tell us what you are buying it for, and we will tell you what needs checking before you pay EMD.
Talk to the desk