Waiting on an E-Khata in Bangalore? What the Auto-Approval Rule Means for a Resale Purchase
Imagine a buyer who has agreed a price, arranged a loan and fixed a registration date, only to learn that the seller's e-khata application is still pending. It happens often in Bangalore, and the GBA has tried to cut the wait with a time limit introduced in March 2026. The questions below explain how the rule works and what both parties should do. They also show what a careful buyer should check once the record finally appears.
Is the e-khata really needed before registration?
Yes, wherever the property falls under a city corporation. The registration software reads the property particulars off the final record, so an old paper khata or a draft version will not let the deed be registered. That includes every flat, house and site across Bangalore's corporations.
A late record affects more than one date. The bank releases the loan at registration, the sanction letter has an expiry, and the seller may need that money to close their own loan. All three depend on the e-khata arriving in time.
What exactly did the Greater Bengaluru Authority decide?
The decision: if nobody handles a final application in five working days, the system approves it on its own. Complaints that revenue officials kept files pending without explanation prompted the step. Its Special Commissioner for revenue said that almost 99% of applications were being cleared within about five working days anyway.
Other changes came first. Random allotment of applications to revenue officers and a fully online process were already in place. As of January 2026, more than 9 lakh applications had been received, upwards of 99% were disposed of and the typical case needed roughly two days.
The rule is about final applications, where the owner only confirms what the digital register already holds. For mutation or correction cases the GBA gave a figure of 10 to 15 days in January 2026. If an officer has returned a file with a query, the applicant must reply before anything moves.
How can anyone see where the application stands?
The e-Aasthi portal shows the status against either the application reference number or the property's ePID. Request both from the seller, and open the status together rather than accepting a screenshot. Three details matter: the submission date, the wording of the status, and whether the case is a plain final application or a transfer or correction.
What if five working days pass with no result?
Start by counting from the submission date, excluding Sundays and public holidays, and look again for an unanswered query. After that, take these steps in order.
- Complain on the online e-khata helpdesk run by the GBA, giving the application number and the date of submission
- Visit the relevant city corporation's revenue office if the helpdesk produces no change
- Store the complaint number and each acknowledgement alongside the sale documents
- Download the final record the moment it exists, and compare it with the deed before choosing a registration date
Owners should not pay agents to speed things up, and the GBA itself has warned against it because the workflow is automated. A seller offered a faster result for cash should use the helpdesk instead.
Is an auto-approved record safe to rely on?
It is not a verified record. The deadline limits waiting time, but approval does not check content, so a wrong name or area from the old register can flow into the final document.
Lay the record next to the title deed and the encumbrance certificate. Then match owner names (all co-owners, correctly spelled), plot and constructed area, address, ward and ePID, the A or B register, and the tax application number together with the latest receipt. A mismatch is simple to fix before registration, because the seller is still the applicant and can file the correction without any change of ownership. Afterwards the task falls to the buyer and can hold up the khata transfer that follows the sale, and as the e-khata is a tax record, a lawyer's title check is still needed.
What belongs in the sale agreement?
Bring the subject up before paying a token amount. A seller who holds a final record in the right name can show it at once, and if it is pending, the agreement can say so and provide for the consequences.
Four provisions are useful. The seller undertakes to get the record issued ahead of registration, and the registration date slips by the same number of days as the delay. The balance payment and the loan release come after the record. The buyer may withdraw with the advance refunded if nothing has been issued by a fixed date.
Keep the bank informed as well, since sanction letters lapse. To recalculate payments when a delay pushes the loan into a higher-rate period, try the EMI calculator.
Does the five-day rule cover homes outside the corporations?
It applies only to the e-Aasthi portal of the city corporations, and it was announced for final applications rather than for every kind of change. A property in a gram panchayat carries an e-Swathu record, in the form of Forms 9 and 11A, and farmland carries an RTC, each issued by a different office on its own timeline. First establish which office covers the property, and for help with the check on a listed home, write to us through the contact page.
