Loss owing to fake khatas pegged at ₹500 crore in Bengaluru alone, says Revenue Minister

Revenue Minister Krishna Byre Gowda on Monday said that it had come to the notice of the government that people are presenting fake khata certificates during registration of properties that are in the gram panchayat, municipality, and BBMP limits. In Bengaluru alone, the government is estimated to have suffered a loss of about ₹500 crore annually.

Revenue Minister Krishna Byre Gowda on Monday said that it had come to the notice of the government that people are presenting fake khata certificates during registration of properties that are in the gram panchayat, municipality, and BBMP limits. In Bengaluru alone, the government is estimated to have suffered a loss of about ₹500 crore annually.

“They are creating fake or bogus khata certificates on computers and submitting them for registration. This is leading to irregularities,” he said.

Besides, to reduce the registration fee and stamp duty, several people are found registering their property in the “others” category that is meant for properties to be registered under Ashraya scheme and others where guideline value and registration fee is low.

“By doing this, property owners are committing fraud on the government. A study by former Inspector General of Registration K.V. Trilokchandra had found that between July 1, 2018, and December 10, 2019, the State government suffered loss of about ₹250 crore annually owing to fake khata and misclassification in BBMP limits alone. In Bengaluru, 91% of registrations happen under ‘others’ category raising suspicion. The current total annual loss owing to this could be about ₹500 crore from Bengaluru alone.”

Stating that many fraudulent practices were happening due to the presence of paper khata where verification for registration is cumbersome and time consuming, he said: “Digital integration by linking Kaveri system and e-khata system will be done where verification is in real time. It has already been implemented in 12 districts and so far, no issues have been encountered.” This initiative will cut down on the role of middlemen, illegal transactions can be prevented, buyers interests are protected, and leakages in government revenue can be plugged, he added.

The mandatory e-khata for registration of properties in Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) will be implemented from October. Already, e-khatha has been mandated for registration of BDA properties and has been successfully implemented in 12 districts.

“We had told BBMP to digitise their khata in February and the civic body has been asked to hasten the process. Properties without e-khata cannot be registered once the system kicks in. There could be inconvenience to public initially. But this is being done to protect the interest of buyers,” Revenue Minister Krishna Byre Gowda said on Monday. He said that while the BBMP has been asked to provide e-khata to those selling their properties quickly, buyers and sellers should also prepare for the mandatory e-khata regime.