A view of the Nadaprabhu Kempegowda Layout in the city.
DH PHOTO/PUSHKAR V
Bengaluru: The Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) has launched an e-khata facility that is not fully contactless.
However, unlike the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) e-khata system, the BDA has not made the facilitate mandatory.
After submitting all documents on the Seva Sindhu portal, applicants have to visit the revenue office to physically submit the copies of their document.
Property owners said the BDA should go the BBMP way to issue e-khatas that are fully contactless.
Surya Kiran, who owns a site in the Nadaprabhu Kempegowda Layout, said he had applied for e-khata on the Seva Sindhu portal about 20 days ago. He also submitted hard copies to the BDA’s revenue office, but the final e-khata — promised in two days — was still not ready. The BDA, he said, has not increased its manpower to handle e-khata-related applications.
There are about 1.2 lakh properties that fall in the BDA jurisdiction. Other than apartment complexes, there are residential layouts such as Sir M Visvesvaraya, Banashankari 6th Stage, and Anjanapura Township, where owners continue to pay property tax to the BDA because these layouts have not yet been handed over to the BBMP.
Although the BDA started issuing e-khatas five years ago, all properties registered before 2019 were given manual khatas.
"We have not made e-khatas mandatory for properties unless there is a transaction at the sub-registrar's office. The BDA is taking an incremental approach. Whoever wants e-khata can submit the applications, but it is not mandatory,” a BDA official said.
According to the BDA, around 40% of the properties already have e-khatas.
Some property owners want e-khatas because they want to mortgage their properties for bank loans.
"I checked the BDA’s website, but it doesn't have any information on e-khatas. There is also no mention of the revenue office for the north division. The BDA has not made any preparations for accepting applications for e-khatas,” said a senior citizen, who owns a site in Sampigehalli.
DS Gowda, president of the Sir M Visvesvaraya Layout Welfare Association, said the BDA must create awareness about the e-khata system, which had created confusion among the public.
Some owners are also not happy with the BDA for making the correct dimension (CD) report mandatory for applying for the e-khata.