Bangalore: The State Government is thinking of making online registration of property transactions possible, Revenue Minister Jagadish Shettar said here on Saturday.

Inaugurating a seminar on `Urban sector reforms: towards property title certification system,' organised by the Revenue Department and the Centre for Sustainable Development (CSD), Mr. Shettar said urban property values were steadily increasing and those buying property were often at the mercy of officials in sub-registrar's offices to get title deeds transferred and registered. "There is scope for delays and malpractice, and we want to avoid this," he said.

"More than 32 per cent of Karnataka's population is already in urban areas; this may reach 34 per cent very soon and 37 per cent over the next few years. There is pressure on available urban land. But, out of more than 4,000 sq. km of urbanised land, less than 500 sq. km may have been actually surveyed and shown on land records. We want to rectify this situation, and a pilot project taken up in Belgaum provides for `e-city survey records' that can eventually be applied in 720 other urban centres," the Minister said.

CSD chairman and former Chief Secretary A. Ravindra said there were ways to make certified property documents available to owners and purchasers. Because of lack of proper surveys and other reasons, ownership of urban property was often subject to disputes and litigation. Even the Bangalore Development Authority had experienced this while forming new layouts. A McKinsey report showed that disputes over property titles may affect 1.3 per cent of the GDP.

Title insurance

"Australia and the United States have experimented with title insurance, often with private partners. The insurance company verifies the property records and the purchaser is insured against future disputes. In India, the general insurance companies or private companies can think on these terms. The property title is then certified and guaranteed by the Government," Mr. Ravindra said.

Anirudh Kumar of the Union Urban Development Ministry said proper registration of urban properties for both clear ownership and taxation purposes was a component of the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission.

The Belgaum project was being keenly observed by other States, being the first such in the country, he said.

Pilot project

The `e-city survey records' pilot project in the Khasbagh area in Belgaum city deals with the process of digitisation of property records to ensure more transparency and easy access to survey records by the public.

Manual data, records, maps and survey sketches are digitised. These details will then be available on CD-ROM for the Revenue Department to access the data whenever needed. The data can also be posted on the department's website to be viewed by property owners and potential purchasers. One can search for details by a city survey number provided.

To make this possible, software has been designed with an input entry screen, an interface with AutoCAD sketch of property and an area map. A property record card is generated with a sketch of the property, directions and dimensions. A printout of the output can be obtained in the city survey office against a specific request from property owners for a nominal payment. All authorised changes in the entries will be updated with the date of changes made.

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