e-Khata explained: what changed, and why your registration now depends on it

What e-Khata and e-Aasthi actually are

Two words get used interchangeably and they are not the same thing. e-Aasthi is the system — the digital property register that now holds Bengaluru’s records. e-Khata is what it issues you: a digitally signed certificate carrying a QR code and a unique ePID, the Electronic Property Identifier.

The old khata was a municipal tax record confirming that a property existed on the books and that someone was liable for tax on it. It was never proof of title, and e-Khata has not changed that. What has changed is that the record is now digital, verifiable by anyone holding the ePID, and enforced at the point of registration.

What changed, and when

This was a staged rollout rather than a single switch, which is part of why so much of the advice circulating is out of date.

• October 2024 — the e-Aasthi portal goes live, pre-loaded with roughly 22 lakh draft records migrated from old BBMP files.
• Late 2024 into early 2025 — sub-registrars begin refusing registrations without a valid e-Khata.
• Mid-2025 — building plan approvals start requiring it too.
• Through 2025 — administration of the old BBMP limits passes to the Greater Bengaluru Authority. Most guides still say “BBMP”; the portal address has not changed, but the authority has.

Worth being precise about the nature of the requirement: this is largely procedural enforcement at the registration counter rather than a single statute you can point to. In practice the distinction matters not at all — if the sub-registrar will not register your sale deed, you do not have a transaction.

Draft or Final — the distinction that catches people out

This is the part worth reading twice, and it is where we see purchases stall.

When the portal launched, it generated a draft e-Khata for millions of properties automatically, from whatever the old municipal records happened to say. Owners search their property, find a record, see their name, and reasonably conclude they have an e-Khata.

They do not. A draft is an unverified migration of old data. It is not accepted for registration and not accepted by lenders. The Final e-Khata only exists once an application has been submitted with documents, verified, and approved.

A seller showing you a screenshot of their property on the portal has shown you nothing. Ask for the ePID and check the status yourself.

How to check an e-Khata before you buy

Ask the seller for the ePID and verify it yourself at bbmpeaasthi.karnataka.gov.in. Five things to confirm:

• Status reads Final, not Draft.
• The owner name matches the sale deed exactly — including initials and spelling. Mismatches here are the single most common cause of trouble.
• The extent and address match what you are being sold. Built-up area errors carried over from old records are frequent.
• It is A-Khata if you intend to finance the purchase.
• Property tax is paid up, with no arrears.

The certificate carries a QR code. Scan it. It resolves against the official record, which is the only version that counts.

What you need to apply

• Registered sale deed — all pages, as a single legible PDF
• Aadhaar and PAN
• Latest property tax receipt
• Encumbrance certificate — 13 years minimum, though we would always pull 30
• Previous khata certificate or extract
• A GPS-tagged photograph of the exterior
• BESCOM electricity bill — not always demanded, always worth including
• For a completed building seeking A-Khata: sanctioned plan and occupancy certificate
• Inherited property: legal heir certificate and death certificate
• Gifted or partitioned property: the registered gift, release or partition deed

Scans must be clean and under the portal’s size limit. Aadhaar e-KYC runs on OTP, so the mobile number linked to the Aadhaar has to be reachable — an ordinary reason applications fail for owners living abroad.

What it costs — and why we will not give you one number

Here we have to be straight with you. Published sources disagree materially on the fees, and we are not going to average them into a figure that looks authoritative and might be wrong.

What is broadly consistent: downloading the certificate is a nominal charge of roughly ₹125 plus a small online service fee. What is not consistent is the registration or mutation charge. One widely cited source puts khata transfer at 2% of stamp duty with a floor of ₹500; another states 2% of the property value per the sale deed, which is a completely different sum; a third gives an area-based figure of roughly ₹200 per square metre.

Those cannot all be right, and the gap between them on a ₹1 crore property runs into lakhs. Confirm the charge applicable to your case on the portal or at the ward office before you budget for it. Anyone quoting you a confident single number for every property is guessing.

A-Khata, B-Khata, and the September 2024 cutoff

A-Khata means the property is fully regularised — compliant on zoning, building approvals and tax. B-Khata means it appears in the tax record but is not fully regularised, typically a revenue layout.

B-Khata properties can obtain an e-Khata through the same portal. What that does not do is upgrade them. Moving from B to A remains a separate regularisation process with its own betterment charges, and getting an e-Khata does not begin it.

One hard date to know: properties constructed after 30 September 2024 cannot be classified as B-Khata at all. If someone is selling you a recent construction on a B-Khata basis, something does not add up.

The practical consequence is financing. Most lenders will not fund a B-Khata purchase, which shrinks your buyer pool when you come to sell as much as it constrains you when you buy.

Why applications get rejected

• Name mismatches across Aadhaar, PAN and the sale deed — initials, expansions, spelling variants.
• The property is not in the system yet. Older records are still being digitised; absence is not always a defect.
• Document quality — blurred scans, oversized files, wrong format.
• Wrong built-up area in the draft, which has to be objected to formally rather than corrected in passing.
• Aadhaar OTP failure, usually an unlinked or unreachable mobile number.

If the statutory timeline passes without a decision, Karnataka’s Sakala Act gives you an escalation route. Few people use it. It works.

Still deciding, or want this applied to your own situation?

Tell us where you are and we will come back to you. The first conversation is free, and we will tell you plainly if we are not the right people for it.

Company

Your name Email Phone

What would you like to ask?

Send it

Email or phone — at least one. We reply to every enquiry ourselves. How we handle your details.