Most of us who are either buying or selling property find the procedures cumbersome and encounter a range of different certificates and documents required to proceed with a deal. Many of us are unfamiliar with what is required until we face the situation.

What is a Khata? What is an occupancy certificate? Who issues it? When and why is it needed? What about the ‘possession certificate’? Former Deputy Commissioner of BBMP (Revenue department) H B S Aradhya answered these questions for Supriya Khandekar of Citizen Matters.

What is a Khata?

There is no specific mention of the term Khata in the Act it is only the Assessment register. An assessment register has a compilation of all the details of any property in the city. The term Khata came up with use. It literally means an account. And this Khata is an account of a person who has property in the city.

There are two things in a Khata: Khata Certificate and Khata Extract.

A BBMP Khata certificate is required for two major purposes: For registration of a new property and for transfer of any property. It can be obtained from the Assistant Revenue officer (of the respective area) of the BBMP. There is a nominal fee of Rs.25 for the form.Under Section 114 of the Karnataka Municipality Council Act this certificate is necessary for any property owner to have.

Khata Certificate is obtained for any new registration after paying the tax. The certificate is issued saying that a particular property No ‘N" stands in the name of person X. This certificate is required to apply for water connection, electricity connection, trade license and building license. The Khata certificate is given only to the owner of the property or to his family members. No one else can take it on his behalf. It takes maximum of One week to get the certificate. One can also get it instantly in some citizen service centres (details: http://www.bmponline.org/citizen-svc-centersl.shtml)

(When a transaction takes place both the seller and the buyer have to inform the BBMP within three months of the transaction. In case of death of either party, within one year.)

Khata Extract is getting details from the assessment register. The extract is required to get trade license, or to buy a particular property. It is an extract from the assessment register about any particular property. It has the details of the property in a particular format with the name, size of the property, use of the property (commercial purpose, residential),annual value, when assessed last.

An extract is the only way to get these details of any property.

What is an Encumbrance Certificate?

This certificate is to be got from the sub registrar’s office. This office is directly under control of the Inspector of Registration of Properties, operated by the state government. The certificate shows that in a given period of time from when the property was bought/sold has there been any transaction or mortgaging. Buyers/sellers ask for this certificate for when a new transfer (sale) is taking place, so that the buyer knows what all transactions have happened.

According to the kind of transaction, the certificate is given in two different forms. Form 15, will have details of transactions during the period of registration in the name of the owner. A person will get a ‘nil encumbrance certificate when no transaction has taken place. this certificate would appear on Form 16.

The encumbrance certificate is to confirm that the property is still in the name of the person who is selling it. This certificate can be obtained in maximum 10 days time.

What is an Occupancy Certificate?

This is given by the engineering department of the BBMP. Once the building licence is got and the building is ready for the construction, at the plinth level itself the builder has to apply for the commencement certificate. After which the BBMP officers inspect the property to ensure that it does not have any deviation from the sanctioned plan.

The occupancy certificate is obtained at the end of the construction. Once the builder applies for the certificate an inspection is done again to confirm if the construction has happened according to the sanctioned plan.

This certificate is mandatory for any builder before he allows people to take possession of the property. This certificate was made compulsory by the BBMP to ensure proper construction in the city.

The Joint director of Town Planning is in-charge of this certificates and the engineering department takes charge of issuing, inspecting and acts as a regulatory body to ensure that each builder obtains it.

What is a Possession Certificate (or Hakkupatra as commonly known)

This certificate is issued by the BDA at the time of allotment of the site. Thus a possession certificate becomes the first thing one needs to get in any property deal. The BDA issues this to all the layouts approved by the BDA. BDA is the allotting authority. After the Possession Certificate is obtained a sale deed or a title deed is signed.

What is a Sale Deed?

A sale deed is a document where a property transfers from owner to purchaser. The sub-registrar obtains the sale deed from the parties involved the transaction and releases it to the new owner. It is a basic document required for the owner. This document is usually an Absolute Sale Deed.

A sale deed issued by the BDA is usually a conditional deed, since it is issued over a BDA-allotted site. The BDA puts a condition for the owner to start construction on the site within two years and the property cannot be sold in 10 years. But a lot of time it is observed that even with the condition people keep their land vacant and are looking for opportunities to sell it. For these cases the BDA can take action but they are not so serious about the regulations.

In some cases the BDA issues an Absolute Sale deed. In that deed there is no condition mentioned and the owner is the absolute owner of the property. Where and when to provide an absolute deed totally depends on the procedure of the BDA.

What is an Agreement of Sale?

This is an agreement signed between seller and buyer. The agreement mentions that the buyer agrees to buy the property at particular considerations (usually the amount of the property, time period in which the sale transaction has to take place).

This agreement has to be signed before the sale deed. Once the sale deed is registered the buyer becomes the property owner.⊕