Real-estate association calls for phased rollout of e-khata process

Bengaluru: The Confederation of Real Estate Developers’ Association of India (CREDAI) has called on the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) to prioritise issuing e-khata for new apartments with occupancy certificates.

Addressing a press conference on Thursday, CREDAI highlighted a 60% drop in property registrations and a revenue shortfall of Rs 8,000 crore for Bengaluru developers since October due to delays in processing e-khata applications.

Amar Mysore, president of CREDAI Bengaluru, noted that most e-khata issues are confined to the BBMP limits. “In panchayat areas, e-khata has been operational for years without major hurdles. Within the BBMP’s jurisdiction, we urge a phased rollout of the system to match its processing capacity,” he said.

On October 1, the BBMP introduced online e-khata issuance for 22 lakh properties and made it mandatory for registering new properties and reselling existing ones.

NRIs, local transactions

Mysore, who is also the executive director of Brigade Group, criticised the absence of urgency-based categorisation for processing e-khata applications.

“NRIs are unable to complete scheduled property transactions, and individuals seeking mortgages are facing challenges as banks demand e-khata. Some sellers are even forced to pay capital gains tax due to delays in registering new properties,” he said.

While commending e-khata as a “bold move to curb fraudulent transactions”, Mysore called for better preparation. “The BBMP should have tested the software, engaged stakeholders like CREDAI, and expanded its workforce before the public rollout.”

System's limitations

Mysore also pointed out inefficiencies in the system.

“Uploading documents and verification are slow and cumbersome. Revenue officers take excessive time to issue e-khata, even after we feed all apartment details post-occupancy certificate issuance,” he said.

CREDAI has engaged with the BBMP and revenue officials, along with software developers, to address these issues. Although some problems have been resolved, new challenges continue to emerge.

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BBMP’s response

Munish Moudgil, BBMP’s Special Commissioner of Revenue, stated that a parallel system will soon be launched to issue e-khata for properties delayed at sub-registrar offices.