What is a khata?
Khata is an important legal document which is needed when licensing property for trade and also when applying for a loan from any bank or financial institution. Khata refers to an account owned by a person who has a property in Bangalore.
Khata contains all the details of a property like the name of the owner, size of the building, location of the property and all other details that are required while filing your property tax.
In Bangalore, Khata determines the assessment of property owners within the jurisdiction of Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP). Thus Khata is an identification for property owners who are liable to pay property tax to the concerned authority. Khata registration under BBMP has been an issue shrouded in doubts and mystery for new property buyers in Bangalore.
Khata consists of two elements :
- Khata Certificate: It is required for property registration and transfer of property from the owner’s name to another person’s. To apply for a Khatha certificate, the owner has to give a letter in this regard along with the latest tax payment receipt along with a standard fee per property. A Khata certificate will enable you to apply for water connection, electricity connection or acquiring a commercial license.
- Khata Extract: It contains details of the property obtained from the property assessment register. It contains details of the property like its size, whether it is used for commercial or residential purpose, the valuation of the property as per the latest assessment. It can be obtained by paying Rs 100 and is valid for five years. The difference between a
khata and a title deed is that whilekhata is an assessment of a property for payment of tax and the title deed confers ownership of a property to the owner.
Two Types Of Khata: A Khata and B Khata:
A Khata:
An A Khata document certifies the customer that the property is conforming to all property bye-laws and government regulations. A Khata document also tells us that all the property taxes have been paid fully to date.
B Khata: All the lands in Bengaluru have originated from being agricultural land. When the developer wants to convert this land to a residential plot, it has to be DC approved(District Commissioner approved). Then the plots have to be registered with the local authority to avail the facilities such as Water, Sanitary and Electricity. When the plot is registered with the local municipal authority, Khata is issued to its Owner. When the BMP (Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike) was included with seven city municipal councils Bommanahalli, Dasarahalli, Krishnarajapuram, Raja Rajeshwari Nagar, Mahadevapura, Byatarayanapura, Yelahanka, one Town Municipal Council (TMC) of Kengeri and 110 villages and the BBMP (Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike) was made, it started the concept of B Records.
All the properties, plots that were in legal dispute, not converted, not paid with the taxes and were semi-legal were listed as B. All these properties were prevented from obtaining government facilities and denied of Construction and Trade licenses. But, the BBMP then levied betterment charges only on semi-legal and DC converted plots to get converted to A Khata.
A typical B Khata plot prevents a person from availing Bank Loan, Construction License, Trade License and availing Building Plan approved by the BBMP. All the construction work done on the plot stands illegal and are subject to demolition at any time from the local authority and acquire the land if the situation demands. If the property is under legal dispute, have not paid with the land taxes for a very long time or there are land discrepancies between the owner and the government regarding
the property, in all the cases the payment of betterment charges will not get the B registered document converted to A Khata. Such properties should undergo legal clauses in the office of District Commissioner and upon that a fresh obtain property certificate – Khata from the local authority.
E Khata: Unlike the general misconception, neither is e khata a different type of khata nor an additional requisite set by the state government. An e-khata is nothing but electronic khata, i.e. filing the document online. With the advancement of technology, you can now file it by logging on to the BBMP official website.
You need to be aware that the e-khata can be only used by property owners who have been allotted a Property Identification (PID) number. This will include the properties that were registered under the Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BMP), which is the body which governed Bangalore until 2007.
The Karnataka state government is in the process of recording all possible land-related accounts online. Though this will take a few years to complete, it is proven to be advantageous to the property owners in the long-run. Since you’re assigned a unique PID number, you can access your khata account easily, pay your taxes online, and obtain receipts whenever you want them. If you do not have a PID number, you can contact the nearest BBMP ward office.
Which is better – A Khata or B Khata?
It is advisable to go for properties having A Khata as in case of B Khata you are not entailed to have building license, trade license or loan from banks or any other financial transactions. B Khata is a temporary measure which will allow you to buy or sell a site, but you will face problems when you go for construction.
