B-Khata Properties To Be Delinked From Akrama-Sakrama

Have you found it difficult to get a Khata issued for your property? Here is some good news for you. The Karnataka government is working out a scheme to regularise over one lakh properties registered as B-Khata in the records. Before we get into the impact this decision may have on your property, we first need to understand what the Khata system is.

What is Khata system?

Khata/Register is a document that records the property tax payments made by you to the municipality. Initially, there was only a single Khata (record) document that stored the details of your property tax payments. An important thing to note here is that a Khata should not be mistaken for a title deed. Title Deed confers your ownership over a property while Khatas just maintain the tax paid by you to the municipality.

The differentiation between A-Khata and B-Khata properties was brought about by the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) when its jurisdiction was expanded to include municipal councils and 110 villages in 2007. Such properties that did not have the necessary approvals in place back then were issued an acknowledgment of tax paid by them and these were registered as B-Khata. Regularised properties were listed under A-Khata. One can convert his Khata from B to A by paying the requisite charges known as the 'betterment charges'. Though B-Khata property owners paid the requisite taxes to the municipality they were denied loans as banks consider such properties as illegal.

Now, you could take loans

If the scheme proposed by the civic body is passed, owners of B-Khata properties that came into existence without any proper legal route and were deemed illegal could heave a sigh of relief.

Given that B-Khata property owners could not, till date, avail a loan against property or be eligible for trade and building licenses- this scenario is set to change. Building plans and Occupancy Certificates can also be acquired once the scheme is passed and made official. Not just that, the property value of such units that have suffered owing to their illegal status can also see their investors cheering. 

About one lakh B-khata owners are awaiting this move. These are within the corporation’s jurisdiction. On the whole, there are over three lakh illegal properties in Bengaluru but BBM Commissioner Manjunath Prasad has said that only those with B-Khata certificates can be eligible for regularisation. Those owners whose properties are not registered in the B-Khata records will have to wait for the Akrama-Sakrama scheme. At present details about this scheme are yet to be heard in the court hence for such property owners, the wait will be longer.

Towards a financially healthier BBMP

The new scheme may also help the cash-strapped civic body as it hopes to fill its coffers with Rs 1,000 crore which will in turn be allocated for various civic and developmental projects. In 2017-18, BBMP’s collection was Rs 1,413 crore but going by its outstanding loans last year which stood at Rs 1,434.39 crore (which was later reduced), it is not difficult to estimate the financial health of the civic body.

What next?

To make this scheme functional, the government will need to amend the Karnataka Revenue Act. BBMP claims that they have already provided such properties with basic amenities and now they would need to collect the regularisation charges. Prasad, who has already submitted the proposal to the state government says that the move will greatly help in a systematic and lawful development of layouts. For a city that provides employment and housing avenues for seekers from both the city and elsewhere, the scheme would come as a relief.