Citizen Matters in the past has explained how khata can be transferred without paying bribe. This post explains the experience of khata bifurcation/transfer done for a newly built apartment by a few of the residents, after following old examples.

March 2017:

We initially heard that Khata transfer can’t be done without paying bribe. Many of the fellow owners of the apartments were under the same impression. Initially around 15-18 owners got it done with the help of builder by paying huge amount of bribe. Their khata was done in 2 months only. We, the rest of the owners, thought we should give it a try to get it done without paying even a single penny as bribe.

We read a few blogs in Citizen Matters about successfully done without bribe and it gave us the confidence to give it a try at least. Anyway, we were not in hurry to get the khata transfer done. We made the time line target of 8 months to get it done after follow-ups. We thought by December 2017 it should be done. We were initially 4-5 of us, and were joined by 7-8 other owners after we started work.

We submitted the following documents, at Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike Assistant Revenue Officer’s (BBMP ARO’s) office:

• Sale Deed
• Latest Encumbrance Certificate (EC)
• Tax Receipt
• Occupancy Certificate (OC) Copy
• Completion Certificate (CC) Copy
• Betterment charges Receipt
• Plan Document
• Old Khata Certificate

We got the seal-signature over application’s photo copy as Acknowledgement. It was March 2017. We decided one of us would visit BBMP ARO office every alternate week to know the status.

After a couple of follow ups, we decided to give it more time, as we were told it will take time.

June 2017: When we resumed our follow-up, we came to know our files were still at ARO’s office and didn’t move an inch. We started enquiring the status again, and even got the phone numbers of concerned officials and clerks.

July: 2017: Every time we visited the ARO’s office, we were told it was being delayed, but no reason was given. So we thought we need to go in bigger groups, to mount the pressure on the officials.

Meanwhile one of the owners who applied separately before us, got the khata without any bribe. This boosted our confidence.

August 2017: A few more owners applied for khata transfer and the file was getting bigger. In the end of August, we got the information that our files had been moved to Revenue Officer’s (RO) office.

October 2017: When we visited RO office, Mahadevapura, we were told they didn’t receive any files for our apartment.

Now the real game started. From October till January, many times files were sent back to ARO office by asking for more information (that’s what we were being told). Files were getting shifted between local BBMP office, ARO office and RO office. The frustration started mounting.

A couple of us tried taking help from Sakala and made a conference call between Sakala officer, ARO office and ourselves. Every time BBMP official used to say that they would update the status in a few days.

January 2018: From RO office, now we were told to check with Deputy Commissioner’s (DC) office. After a week, ARO said the DC’s approval was done and now it will go to Joint Commissioner’s (JC) approval. When we started contacting JC’s office, we were asked to get PS number from DC’s office. When we contact DC’s office for this, they asked to get the same from ARO’s office first. Thus another thread started.

February 2018: Finally, we got the PS number from ARO and then from DC. When we contacted JC’s office, they denied that any file came to them. We again started running to DC’s office and calling the DC’s Personal Assistant. JC’s office asked us to tell the ARO to meet the JC. ARO’s office told us they had done their job, and it was pending from higher officers, meeting them was difficult.

We were getting frustrated. No one was giving us proper response. We were asked to run around from office to office. Meanwhile another set of owners went with the builder to get the khata done, paying a huge amount of bribe per head.

March 2018: Now we were more serious. We started asking all applicants to visit often or call the officials to know the status. We knew this was their tactic to make us succumb to frustration and shell out some money. We started going in groups and started questioning why things were not happening. JC told us that if the file comes in this office with prior approvals, they will sign and send back for further processing.

April 2018: We went to ARO when we came to know JC approval was done and the file was sent back to ARO office. We started asking them to process the khata documents and hand it over to us, because in another month the state election was due and officials would be busy. We were finally told to pay the property tax, get the Demand Draft (DD) done and submit it. We were quite happy that finally the status reached to DD preparation stage, which was the final step.

We paid the property tax and submitted the DD. ARO’s office said they were waiting for the last DD. We all submitted and then asked for khata doc. We were told to check back in April last week.

Finally, when we called them up in the last week of April, we were told to collect the khata certificates and khata documents. One of the BBMP Office employees was very helpful in the entire course of action.

May 2018: In May first week, we got our khata documents in our hand. Total 18 owners applied and got the khata done WITHOUT paying ANY BRIBE.

Moral of the story:

• Go in group, with all required documents.
• Have a few Kannada-speaking guys, ready to visit many times to different offices.
• Make sure your group has enough enthusiastic people to run between BBMP offices on regular basis.
• And last but not the least, don’t succumb to your frustration.