by THO
In 2024, the Karnataka government launched the e-khata initiative to improve transparency in property registrations, reduce fraud, and increase property tax revenue. This initiative had its own set of challenges. It not only led to a slight dip in property registration numbers in the month of October but also affected buyers who were in the process of getting their documents registered.
In September, the state government introduced the e-khata service to improve transparency in property registrations, reduce fraud and increase property tax revenue.
E-khata is an electronic version of the traditional khata certificate, a computerized record that validates the ownership details of a property in Karnataka. This digital platform verifies that all necessary approvals have been obtained and offers official property ownership documentation.
While the system was already in place in other districts, such as Chitradurga and Bagalkot, the state made e-khata mandatory for property registration from September onwards.
On September 20, Bengaluru’s municipal body said it had digitised about 21 lakh property records in the city so far to implement the faceless, contactless and online digital e-khata issuance system.
While e-khata gave the state the much-needed digital boost, it also impacted property registration. On December 13, the state’s CREDAI president Amar Mysore said that the sudden implementation of the service has led to an almost 60% dip in the city’s property registration. Registration of properties worth ₹8000 crore has been delayed since October.
He said that the sudden implementation of mandatory e-Khata has resulted in a rush of applications and subsequent overflow of applications from the general public, causing significant distress to people who are in the process of getting their documents registered.
The new property tax system that was not implemented
In February 2024, the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) proposed guidance on value-based property tax collection to replace the previously existing ‘zonal classification ‘-based tax collection. Under the proposal, properties were categorised into six clear and unambiguous categories: residential (self-use and tenanted), commercial, industrial, star hotels, exempted, and vacant lands.
The system aimed to simplify processes, rationalise taxation, and establish a fair framework by utilising individual property guidance values rather than a single tax rate based on average values within an area. The BBMP later halted the implementation of the new property tax regime, fearing backlash from the citizens before the parliament elections.
In February 2024, Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar said that the government is working on a new uniform law to protect homebuyers’ rights. The new law will abolish the existing Karnataka Apartment Ownership Act, 1972, and place it under the purview of the Karnataka Real Estate Regulation and Development (RERA) Rules, 2017.
Shivakumar said the move is expected to positively impact Bengaluru, where real estate prices have been soaring since early last year.
