Karnataka Assembly clears Bill to simplify property registration process

Bengaluru: The Karnataka Assembly on Wednesday passed a Bill that will allow property registrations at sub-registrar offices to happen without the physical presence of parties such as a government body or a bank.

The Registration (Karnataka Amendment) Bill was passed with Revenue Minister Krishna Byre Gowda claiming that the legislation would simplify the process while also introducing technology.

"By simplification and use of technology, we want to minimise human intervention in property registration work," Gowda said, piloting the Bill.

The Bill introduces a provision for digital signatures to approve property registrations. "If a BDA officer is registering the property to a BDA allottee, there's no need for an officer to physically sign off on this. Similarly, if a tahsildar is registering a property in favour of a person to whom it was granted, then this it's coming from a trusted source. So, a digital signature is being introduced," Gowda said.

The Bill also introduces corresponding provisions to allow presentation of documents electronically to prevent physical appearance during property registration.

"Say, when the State Bank of India says that a farmer has repaid a loan, why should an officer physically verify it? Why should that farmer appear in person? When a transaction is coming from the likes of KIADB, BDA, Housing Board, a tahsildar and nationalised banks, registration should happen automatically, because it's coming from a trusted and secure source," he explained.

Further, the Bill mandates fetching documents electronically. "If there's a paper document, it can be fraudulent. All documents must be pushed electronically. The source has to be trusted. I have to know that it's coming BDA, tahsildar or the loan manager of SBI," Gowda said.

Gowda specified that the government is not exempting physical appearance in sale transactions between two private individuals. "In fact, I'm increasing the standards there. All these days, properties were sold through unregistered general powers of attorney (GPA). This led to many frauds. Any conveyance of a property must happen on the basis of a registered GPA," he said.

The Assembly also passed the Karnataka Land Reforms and Certain Other Law (Amendment) Bill. This will do away with conversion of agricultural lands if they are used for renewable energy projects. Similarly, up to two acres of agricultural land can be used for the establishment of new industries (MSMEs) without conversion. "There will be auto-conversion," the minister said.