Karnataka's pioneering success in the digitisation of land records has allowed citizens to get property-related services at their fingertips, but property owners in Bengaluru may have to wait longer as the BBMP revenue department, saddled with additional work, has to verify and digitise data of over 20 lakh properties.
Getting the khata extract of a property in Bengaluru has remained an arduous task for a resident who is forced to pay hefty "fee" to middlemen. A person who wants to buy a property seeks the khata extract twice: first to verify the ownership before buying and then to ensure that his ownership has been updated in the records.
"Getting things done on your own involves running from pillar to post. So, people pay thousands of rupees to middlemen to get the work done though the fee fixed by the BBMP is Rs 125. This harassment can end only when the BBMP takes all data online," said B Anil Kumar, who recently sold his father's property.
To a question, BBMP Special Commissioner (Revenue) Deepak R L said the corporation was working to take the revenue records to the e-Aasthi regime. "Earlier, system generated khata certificates and extracts were issued. However, this was discontinued when the e-Aasthi was introduced in the BBMP. The e-Aasthi has now been implemented in 42 wards of the East Zone in the first stage. We are in the process of expanding it to all wards in the coming year," he said.
Another official said unlike other cities, Bengaluru poses unique challenges in digitisation. "Other city corporations have been able to implement e-Aasthi because most of them have about 1 or 2 lakh properties. In Bengaluru, the properties in tax next alone go up to 20 lakh and many of them have multiple transactions. Add to this the complications posed by the poor documentation of many properties in 110 villages. We have piles of data that need to be verified before digitisation as a single wrong entry will put property owners in trouble," he said.
The BBMP is also losing revenue due to the lack of digitisation. Shifting to e-Aasthi will not only bring into the tax net the properties that are yet to be mapped, it will also help verify the self-assessment made by owners regarding the number of floors, types of materials used and other entries. The true valuation will boost tax collection.
The official said they were planning to involve citizens in the completion of digitisation as relying on staff alone means the work can take several years.
"Digitising a property involves making entries in about 45 columns after verifying the information. Considering that the staffers in the BBMP will have additional work during the Assembly and the BBMP elections, we are exploring the possibility of allowing property owners to upload the details at Bangalore One centres. The information can be verified by us during the inspection. We will make a proposal to the government in this regard," he added.