Property registration, land records & Building Approval Procedures in India: How to obtain Patta and how to verify Patta online in the State of Tamil Nadu?

Patta is the record of land right in Tamil Nadu. It contains entries relating to ownership and extent of land holding. Patta is always issued in Hectares/Ares for Village Properties (Computerised Patta) and in Ares/Sq.mts for City Properties.

Computerised Patta are being issued all over the State of Tamil Nadu for all Village Properties since 2008. However for Properties Situated within Municipality or City, Pattas are still issued manually. The Computerised Patta bears the Signature of Tahsildar or Head Quarters Deputy Tahsildar or Zonal Deputy Tahsildar. Computerised Pattas are issued for Non Corporation, Non Municipal and Non Natham lands. The village name, taluk and survey numbers will be clearly mentioned in a Computerised Patta. The Survey along with sub division numbers, Nanjai land extent, Punjai land extent and other land extent will be mentioned in a tabular form. Date of issue of Computerised Patta will always be mentioned in the top left side. The emblem of Tamil Nadu Government will also be reflected in the top of the Computerised Patta. English Alphabets or English Initials will not be used in a Computerised Patta and all the details are mentioned only in tamil. Moreover in a Computerised Patta only the name of the Village will be mentioned and the revenue village number will not be mentioned.

Town Survey Land Extract/Field Extract is the Patta equivalent issued in Corporation and Municipal areas. Such Pattas are issued manually and will mention the name of the street, Door number of the Property, owners name and will mention the extent of land in Hectares/Ares/Sq.mts or in Grounds or Sq.mts. (Earlier they were issued in Grounds but nowadays they are only issued in Hec/Ares/Sq.mts). These Pattas bears the Signature of Draughtsman, Head Surveyor and Tahsildar and also a small sketch map of the Property is reflected in the manual Town Survey Land Extract/Field Extract.

How to obtain Town Survey Land Extract/Field Extract (ie manual Patta issued in all the Corporation Limits in the State of Tamil Nadu including Chennai) ?

Firstly, an application in the prescribed format should be submitted to Taluk Reception Officer requesting Patta. The copy of title deeds along with preceeding parent documents and previous patta (if available) along with Encumbrance Certificates for a period of 30 years should be enclosed along with the application form. A receipt will be issued acknowledging the receipt of the Patta application form. Subsequently one has to approach the concerned Surveyor (Sub Inspector of Survey) who will personally visit and measure the Property. If the site does not involve any Sub division, the Surveyor will immediately put up a note to the Taluk Sub Inspector of Survey (also known as TDS) who in turn will forward the note to the Deputy Inspector of Survey (Head Surveyor). The Head Surveyor will take approvals from Head Quarters Deputy Tahsildars or Zonal Deputy Tahsildars and the Tahsildar and orders will be passed for issuance of Patta. subsequently the applicant will have to remit a sum of Rs.20/- in State Bank of India, Treasury Branch and hand over the Challan back to the Taluk Office and the Taluk Assistant will fill up the Patta (manual extract) and the Land Records Draughtsman will draw the sketch from FMB Extract and he will also officially sign in the reverse side of the manual Patta and the Deputy Inspector of Survey (Head Surveyor), Head Quarters Deputy Tahsildar or Zonal Deputy Tahsildar and the concerned Tahsildar will also have to officially sign in the Patta. If the Site require, sub division, the same process will be followed. However initially the applicant will have to remit a sum of Rs.120/- in State Bank of India, Treasury Branch and an order for sub division of land (8A Extract record changes) will have to be issued by the Tahsildar prior to issuing orders for issuance of Patta. The manual Pattas issued in Tamil Nadu for City and Municipality Jurisdictional Properties will soon become Computerised in the middle of this year. At present, Chennai City has 10 Taluk offices (earlier there were 5 Taluks)

How to obtain Computerised Pattas (issued for Non Corporation, Non Municipal and Non Natham lands) in Tamil Nadu?

Tamil Nadu was the third State in India which had computerised most of its land records in the year 2008. (Karnataka was the first state followed by Andhra Pradesh). Earlier an applicant had to approach the concerned Tahsildar office to apply for Patta and the procedure mentioned above for obtaining city Patta is almost similar to the procedure for obtaining Computerised Patta (barring preparation of sketch by Draughtsman- no sketch of the Property is available in a Computerised Patta). However with effect from the year 2011, Government of Tamil Nadu had changed the procedure for obtaining Computerised Patta wherein an applicant will now have to approach the concerned Village Administrative Officer (VAO) on every Mondays and submit the application for issuance of Patta which will be acknowledged by the VAO. In cases which do not involve sub-divisions, applicants will have to approach the taluk office on second Fridays with the original documents for verification and obtain Patta. For cases involving sub-divisions the applicants will have to receive the order of patta transfer on the fourth Friday from the date of submission of application (after the Surveyor makes site inspection). The applicant has to pay the sub division fee on the day of receipt of the order from the Tahsildar. This work would be completed within 30 days.

Steps for Online Verification of Computerised Patta issued anywhere in Tamil Nadu

To verify online, one has to go to www.tn.gov.in and then click on the link eservices of district offices appearing on the screen. Bamini Font (Tamil Font) is required to installed. Firstly click View Patta/Chitta Extract and then Select the District, Taluk, Village and also fill up the Computerised Patta number (which are all mandatory). Subsequently the Survey number (any one survey number is enough) along with its Sub division should also be compulsorily filled up. Once these details are filled up, the entire details of all the Survey numbers along with its Sub Division mentioned in the Said Patta (sought for verification) will be reflected on the screen along with the name of the owner of the land. (Note: Only Computerised Pattas can be verified online and not manual Pattas). The said website has also got a facility to verify Poramboke land so as to find out whether any land is owned by Government or Private Parties.

Conversion rates applicable in the State of Tamil Nadu

1 Hectare = 2.471 Acres or 100 Ares

1 Acre = 100 Cents or 43560 Sq.ft

1 Are = 2.471 Cents

1 Cent = 435.60 Sq.ft

1 Ground = 2400 Sq.ft

1 Meter = 3.28 Feet

1 Sq.mt = 10.76 Sq.ft

Shyam Sunder

Advocate, Chennai

09841136901

(Shyam Sunder - Author of Book titled `Property registration, land records and Building Approval Procedures followed in Various States in India- First of its kind Book being Published in India)

Book available in:

Flip Kart (Online)

Land Mark (in all major cities in India)

Chennai – Sitaraman & Co (044-28111516, 28117069), Higginbothams and Odessey

Sri Vidya Devi Publishers (044-24936193/9841136901)

Coimbatore – Odessey (Brooksfield Mall)

Bangalore – MPP House (080 – 41136866, 22260706)

Hyderabad – Asia Law House (040 – 24742324)

Mumbai – Students Book Centre (Snow White Publishers – 022 – 22050510/22080668)

The Hindu – Habitat (Property Supplement) – 14^th Dec, 2013 - Book Review

http://www.thehindu.com/features/homes-and-gardens/q-and-a/a-guide-to-realty/article5455252.ece

Economic Times – 4^th Dec, 2013

Only a few states follow good property registration procedures: G Shyam Sunder
G Shyam Sunder, a Chennai-based advocate, points out to the benefits of standardising procedures.

click here to read the full article >>

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http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/markets/real-estate/news/only-a-few-states-follow-good-property-registration-procedures-g-shyam-sunder/articleshow/26851644.cms?intenttarget=no&mailtofriend=yes

Times of India – 1^st Dec, 2013

http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2013-12-01/chennai/44618823_1_ec-states-and-union-territories-departments

The New Indian Express – 21^st Nov, 2013

http://newindianexpress.com/cities/chennai/A-one-point-reference-for-property-and-land-records/2013/11/21/article1901988.ece

Nanayam Vikadan – 15^th Dec, 2013 (leading Tamil Financial Weekly)

http://www.vikatan.com/new/article.php?module=magazine&aid=90315

http://nanayam.vikatan.com/index.php?aid=4337

Dinamalar – 19^th Nov, 2013, 19^th Dec, 2013 and 12^th Jan, 2014 http://www.dinamalar.com//district_detail.asp?id=852526&dtnew=11/19/2013

http://www.dinamalar.com/splpart_detail.asp?id=93&dtnew=12/19/2013

http://epaper.dinamalar.com/PUBLICATIONS/DM/DINAMALAR/2014/01/12/ArticleHtmls/12012014408018.shtml?Mode=1 (Book Review)

Business Line – 23^rd Nov, 2013

http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/industry-and-economy/real-estate/watch-out-when-you-buy-property/article5379637.ece