Khata Is Not Title: e-Khata in Bengaluru and GHMC Records in Hyderabad
Auction Dunia · Law and portal facts checked as of · 8 min read
The short answer
A Khata in Bengaluru, a PTIN in Hyderabad and a land record such as the RTC or Bhu Bharati entry are fiscal records: they say who is assessed to pay tax or revenue on a property, not who owns it. The Supreme Court has held repeatedly that such entries neither create nor extinguish title. Title comes from the registered documents; these records tell you about approvals, dues and land status, and each has to be read for what it is.
Key points
- A mutation or Khata entry is for collecting tax or land revenue and has no presumptive value on title (Jitendra Singh v. State of Madhya Pradesh, Supreme Court, 2021, following Suraj Bhan v. Financial Commissioner, 2007).
- In Bengaluru, the Greater Bengaluru Authority and its five city corporations replaced BBMP in September 2025; the Khata is now the e-Khata on the e-Aasthi system, which Kaveri registration draws on.
- A B-Khata records a property for tax without the approvals an A-Khata reflects. The terms for moving from B to A have changed more than once; check the current notification.
- Panchayat properties in Karnataka are recorded on e-Swathu (Form 9 and the Form 11 series); a tax-only record there is not regularisation or title.
- In Telangana, a hit on the Section 22A prohibited list is not automatically fatal and a miss is not clearance — the list has known errors and is being corrected.
What municipal and revenue records prove
Ownership of immovable property passes by a registered document — a sale deed, a gift, a partition, a court decree, or for an auction buyer the sale certificate. The municipal record (the Khata in Karnataka, the property-tax record in Telangana) and the revenue record (the RTC in Karnataka, the record of rights on Bhu Bharati in Telangana) are kept for a different purpose: to know whom to bill.
The Supreme Court has put it plainly: mutation in revenue records “neither creates nor extinguishes title to the property nor has it any presumptive value on title”, the entries are relevant only for collecting revenue, and title can be decided only by a competent civil court (Jitendra Singh v. State of Madhya Pradesh, Supreme Court, 2021, relying on Balwant Singh v. Daulat Singh, 1997, and Suraj Bhan v. Financial Commissioner, 2007).
That does not make these records unimportant. They tell you whether the property is assessed and in whose name, whether its tax is paid, whether the layout and building were approved, whether the land was converted from agricultural use, and whether the government has an interest. Several of them also decide whether a document can be registered at all.
Bengaluru: e-Khata on e-Aasthi, and its link to Kaveri
Under the Greater Bengaluru Governance Act, the Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA) replaced BBMP in September 2025, with five city corporations — Central, North, South, East and West — handling property tax and Khata day to day. Copy that still says “BBMP Khata” is describing the old structure.
The Khata is now issued digitally as an e-Khata on e-Aasthi, the urban property system, with an electronic property ID (ePID). Karnataka’s registration system, Kaveri 2.0, draws on that record, and in practice a property in Bengaluru is registered against its e-Khata. For an auction buyer this links the municipal record to the end of the process: the Khata in your name follows the sale certificate, and a property without a usable e-Khata can slow that step. The after-the-win guides cover the transfer. One more point for a buyer: unpaid property tax is a first charge on the property under the Greater Bengaluru Governance Act (s.155), so ask the corporation what is outstanding before you bid; our guide to Bengaluru property tax explains the dues and the name change.
A-Khata and B-Khata
An A-Khata is the record for a property in an approved layout or building, with land-use conversion in place. A B-Khata is a register kept so that properties lacking one or more of those approvals can still be assessed for tax — a revenue site, an unapproved layout, a building that deviates from its plan. A B-Khata is not a regularisation and not a title; it records the property for tax.
B-Khata to A-Khata: dated caveat
In late 2025 the GBA opened a one-time scheme to move eligible B-Khata properties to A-Khata, and the State later moved to extend conversion beyond Bengaluru. Eligibility, charges and deadlines have been reported differently and have changed more than once. As of 19 October 2026 we do not quote them here; read the current corporation or government notification before relying on any figure.
For a buyer, a B-Khata matters in three ways: lenders may assess the property differently, building approvals and additions may be harder, and a later resale carries the same question. It is a cost and a process to price in, not something to assume away.
Panchayat properties: e-Swathu Form 9 and the Form 11 series
Outside city limits in Karnataka, gram panchayats keep property records on e-Swathu. Form 9 is the panchayat’s register extract for a site or building, and Form 11A shows the tax assessment and collection. Form 11B has been the tax-only record for properties that do not meet the conditions for Form 9 or 11A, such as a site without conversion or layout approval. Descriptions of 11B vary, so read what the extract itself states.
In 2025 Karnataka amended its panchayat law so that panchayats can levy tax on unauthorised buildings and sites. The amending Bill is explicit that collecting that tax “does not confer any right to regularize violation made, or title, ownership or legal status” (Karnataka Gram Swaraj and Panchayat Raj (Amendment) Bill, 2025). The same rule of thumb applies as in the city: a panchayat record is evidence of assessment, not of ownership.
Hyderabad: the property-tax record and PTIN
In Hyderabad the municipal record is the property-tax assessment, identified by a Property Tax Identification Number (PTIN). It shows the assessed owner, the assessment and any arrears, and the corporation records a change of owner by mutation. Unpaid tax typically holds up mutation into a new owner’s name, whoever is legally liable for it.
The map has changed. In February 2026 the State reorganised GHMC into three municipal corporations — Greater Hyderabad, Cyberabad and Malkajgiri — under the GHMC Act, 1955 (G.O. Ms. No. 55, as reported). Check which corporation now holds the PTIN for the property’s zone. Properties outside these limits are assessed by municipalities or gram panchayats, each with its own record.
The land record: Bhoomi RTC, Bhu Bharati and the 22A list
Karnataka’s land record is the Record of Rights, Tenancy and Crops (RTC, or Pahani) and the mutation register, viewable on Bhoomi. Even for a flat, the RTC of the parent survey number is worth reading: it should show the land as converted for non-agricultural use, and it can carry government, acquisition or granted-land entries that no municipal record shows.
Telangana’s land record is now Bhu Bharati. The Telangana Bhu Bharati (Record of Rights in Land) Act, 2025 came into force on 14 April 2025 and repealed the Dharani-era 2020 Act. Bhu Bharati carries the record of rights and the prohibited status of agricultural land.
Section 22A of the Registration Act, as amended in Andhra Pradesh and continued in Telangana, lets the State list properties whose documents the sub-registrar must refuse to register — government, assigned, endowment and Waqf land among them. A property on that list cannot be registered, which reaches the sale certificate, mutation and resale. In 2026 the State acknowledged, as reported, that private properties had been wrongly placed on the list, and set up a committee to resolve cases.
Reading a 22A result
A hit on the list is not an automatic failure — it may be one of the errors under correction, and needs the records behind it. A miss is not clearance — the list is being revised. Run the check close to registration, and again if months pass.
What the auction route cannot promise
- No Khata, PTIN, RTC or Bhu Bharati entry establishes title; the registered chain and the bank’s right to sell do.
- B-Khata to A-Khata conversion depends on a scheme whose terms have changed; the auction route cannot promise a conversion or its cost.
- A 22A or municipal check is current only to its date; the list and the records are being revised, and registration can still be refused.
- The time for the Khata or mutation to reach the buyer’s name varies by office and by the state of the record.
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.
- JudgmentJitendra Singh v. State of Madhya Pradesh, Supreme Court, order of 6 Sep 2021 (SLP (C) 13146/2021)
- StatuteRegistration Act, 1908 — central text (s.22A is a State amendment in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana)
- 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
- Official portale-Aasthi — Bengaluru e-Khata portal
- StatuteGreater Bengaluru Governance Act, 2024 (Karnataka Act 36 of 2025) — s.155
- Official portalGreater Bengaluru Authority
- Official portale-Swathu — Karnataka gram panchayat property records
- Official portalBhoomi — Karnataka land records (RTC)
- Official portalBhu Bharati — Telangana land records
- SecondarySouth First — Telangana reorganises GHMC into three corporations (11 Feb 2026)
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.
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