Fixing issues in property records could take longer in Bengaluru

When the owners of properties in Bengaluru received messages from the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) asking them to keep tax-paid receipts and BESCOM bills ready, many took to social media to ask if the message was genuine.

The BBMP had to clarify, saying that it was indeed genuine, aimed to verify declarations made under the self-assessment scheme (SAS) where people declared on their own what their property was, the usage and thereby a tax amount was decided on it. The project would also fix another issue: attaching a location to the property.

It will also help the BBMP mop up more revenue in tax as the details get verified and more properties come under the correct tax bracket.

BBMP officials say geotagging and verification of SAS property records is a pro-people project, and people should cooperate by sharing the documents sought.

Another project—the Urban Property Ownership Record (UPOR) project launched in 2009—is also underway within BBMP limits. 

The final UPOR will have photos of the property and the owner, location, address, owner’s name, Urban Land Property Identity Number (ULPIN) and more. The project is part of a central government project called Bhu-Aadhar, an Aadhar number for properties. Since the project also involves geotagging, citizens wonder why both projects cannot be clubbed.

Status of UPOR

The UPOR project is in the draft stage. Out of the old 198 wards in the city, the properties have been mapped using a drone survey in 162 wards, while this data for 116 wards has been digitised.

As many as 36 (old) wards have defence lands, and the defence ministry needs to permit drone surveys in these wards.

“We will complete the exercise in the remaining area as soon as we get permission from the defence ministry,” said Rajendra Kataria, Principal Secretary of the Revenue Department.

The orthorectified image (ORI) — the output of the drone survey is accurate upto 10 cm, say officials. The ORI data is superimposed with the survey maps of 1902 to locate government lands, streams and lakes. Properties on such lands and within 100 metres of lakes are not given draft property record (DPR) documents. They will be issued only after verifying the legality of land transactions to avoid confusion in future.

DPRs are also not being issued to the apartments as the land ownership is divided between too many people, and collecting and checking the documents will take longer. Only individual properties are being issued DPRs. 

The UPOR survey process has had its challenges. Government and licensed surveyors are working on this project, with every ward having four surveyors. Surveyors talk of reluctance by people to share documents and hostile attitudes by people who do not want to share property documents.

The DPR will be shared with people individually at their homes, after which it is considered ‘served’ to the property owners. One cannot check it out online or file objections, but officials say talks are going on regarding making it visible online by allowing access to authorised individuals.

However, one can submit the required documents online by logging in to rdservices.karnataka.gov.in under the UPOR section or offline through the helpdesk at the Revenue Department office.

Of the mapped 11,49,080 properties in the city, 2,42,731 properties have been issued draft property records (DPR). The department has received 8507 objections to date. These objections will be looked into before finalising the draft record. Eight enquiry officers are tasked with finalising the DPRs by checking the previous transactions.

“The draft is not final. Before finalising it, previous property transaction records will be checked,” said an official, adding that the discussion is ongoing about how many years of data needs to be considered.

‘Offenders reluctant to share info’

The BBMP officials are reluctant to share more information on the project’s modus operandi. BBMP sources say many are reluctant to share information because ”they don’t want to pay the right amount of property tax, and they don’t want to be accountable”.

After the BBMP sent messages asking people to keep the BESCOM bills and tax-paid receipts with SAS numbers ready, many expressed apprehensions on social media about verifying the credentials of the officials collecting documents in the background of an external agency that collected voter data ahead of state polls last year being engaged in using the data for political purposes.

An official rebutted such fears as unfounded, as the BBMP staff themselves will visit properties with no external involvement as of now, and people have nothing to fear. The project is meant for the safety of properties and ownerships, and BBMP may not be able to help people not giving the data in cases of property ownerships reflected wrongly on being claimed by vested interests, he said.

When the property is geotagged, the property identity number (PID) gets a location on the map, making it immovable and not transferable to another property through fraud. When people are reluctant to do this, they do not want to come under the radar. 

A means to verify self-assessment

People rent the property and show it as self-occupied, reducing the property tax they must pay. The BESCOM bill will help identify whether the property is used for residential or commercial purposes. He added that while the offenders need to face the music, law-abiding citizens do not need to fear.

Vacant plots do not need a BESCOM bill as it is visible that the plot is unbuilt and unoccupied. However, it is unclear at what stage the project is right now.

“The essence of SAS was to trust the citizen to tell the truth over expecting the revenue officer to uncover a lie. If folks have not been truthful, they need to face the consequences,” said V Ravichandar, who was instrumental in drafting the self-assessment scheme policy in the early 2000s, which the BBMP adopted in 2004.

“This is necessary since no random inspection of 10% per year was done in the past. The geotagging is necessary since the existing GIS has not captured it accurately earlier,” he added.

“The BESCOM meter number will help in cross-checking databases. The BWSSB meter number, too, should form part of the information collected,” he opined. 

‘Data may be shared with BBMP’

Meanwhile, the BBMP is in talks with the state revenue department on sharing UPOR data, such as location. Previously, much of the UPOR project was based on tax and the khata data shared by the BBMP.

“The BBMP has requested the data from the revenue department; I received a representation on this yesterday,” said Kataria on Friday, adding that the government will share the information once the data is compiled.

“When it is public data, why should another department spend money unnecessarily on a project already done by us? Whatever data is available will be shared with BBMP soon as per the requirements and policies,” said Kataria.

However, though the UPOR has the data BBMP needs, finalising the UPOR will take more time due to complications in the process. There are also issues to be fixed, such as issuing the UPOR to apartments. While the BBMP’s SAS data currently has 21,64,173 properties, the UPOR project has an estimated 12,12,833 properties, excluding apartments in all wards and all properties in 36 wards where defence lands lie.

“If objections are pending with the Revenue Department, such data cannot be shared in our opinion. Unless the UPOR data is finalised, BBMP cannot use it as it might lead to other problems later. Still, if the BBMP feels it might help people, they might take a call. Talks are going on regarding the sharing of data. Nothing is finalised yet,” said Pommala Sunilkumar, Commissioner, Revenue Department.

List of 36 old wards where UPOR did not take off

Kempegowda Ward
Atturu
Jakkuru
Byatarayanapura
Kodigehalli
Kuvempu Nagar
Shettihalli
Mallasandra
Bagalakunte
T Dasarahalli
Jalahalli
Ganga Nagar
Dodda Bommasandra
Kaval Bairasandra
Manorayana Palya
Gangenahalli
Aramane Nagara
HMT Ward
Jayachamarajendra Naga
Devara Jeevanahalli
Muneshwara Nagar
Benniganahalli
New Tippa Sandra
SK Garden
Ramaswamy Palya
Sarvagna Nagar
Hoysala Nagar
Vijnana Nagar
Dodda Nekkundi
Marathahalli
HAL Airport
Jeevan Bhima Nagar
Domlur
Konena Agrahara
Bellanduru(Part)
HSR Layout