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New land registry scheme for India

Catherine Deshayes

India's property market has been tainted by the growing problem of fraud and disputes, and the introduction of a new land registry scheme, similar to that of the UK, aims to ease the problem.

India's Department of Land Resources has drawn up a report that promotes changes to the country's property registration system, with a registry similar to that in the UK proposed.

At present the registration of deeds and documents does not guarantee the title of the property as it operates on the principle of presumptive rights.

The Registration Act of 1908 provides for registration of deeds and documents, not titles. Merely the transaction is recorded, and the transfer of ownership title remains presumptive only. Also, there is significant time lag between registration and mutation, giving rise to scope of fraudulent transactions in land and disputes.

So in practice, registration of property only amounts to a certification of transaction and does not ensure the title of the property. Any prospective buyer in order to verify the title has to undertake a tedious and difficult process of consulting various sources such as past transactions, mortgage deeds, revenue records and encumbrance certificate.

Now, the Department of Land Resources has released a new report that highlights the need for changes to be made to property registration in India.

Under the proposed system, a single agency will handle all land titles and records so that true ownership is documented and guaranteed. This will be in contrast to the current system, which merely records transactions.

Registration of properties in India now only amounts to a certification of the transaction, but it does not ensure the title of the property. Currently, in order to verify the title, a prospective buyer or developer has to do an extensive search through various sources, which is costly and time consuming.

At present, the systems of land records management vary from State to State, often even within a State, depending upon their historical evolution and local traditions. This is confusing and has long been a problem for developers.

Several departments are involved in managing land records in most of the States, and the citizen has to approach more than four agencies in order to obtain complete land records.

In response to this, the Department is also computerizing all land records using a Geographic Information System, which will combine the two existing programs into the National Land Records Modernization Programme.

This system will digitize all land records and help with numerous other services and businesses, including emergency management, real estate, and banks and credit companies.

The Development Minister, Raghuvansh Prasad Singh, has said that the new regulations are expected to be introduced soon.

A Department of Land Resources spokesman said, "We are looking at the system in the UK as a good example.

"The aim is to do away with the imperfect and costly examination of past titles and remove the possibility of fraud," added the spokesman.

At first, the new programme is proposed to be taken up in one or two districts in each State and Union Territory during the current financial year and subsequently scaled up.

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Picture by hagit