Karnataka Revenue Minister Krishna Byre Gowda on Wednesday said that e-khata could help reduce corruption and registration issues, revealing that approximately 1.20 crore properties in the state were registered under fraudulent khatas. Khata certificate is a legal document that validates the ownership details of a property. Responding to a question raised by MLC Shashil G Namoshi in the Legislative Council on concerns over the delay in issuing e-khatas, Gowda admitted that there was a delay earlier. Gowda stated that initially, the capacity was to generate 200 e-khatas daily. However, he said the agencies have now streamlined the process and can issue 3,000 e-khatas daily. The integration of property documents with khatas began in 2006, initially focusing on agricultural lands, and this initiative has since been expanded to include other types of properties, according to the minister. "In Bengaluru, approximately 15 lakh properties have been found to have forged khatas. At the village-panchayat level, around 90 lakh khatas are affected, and in municipalities, there are about 30 lakh khatas. These forgeries were created at data-entry shops and registered at sub-registrar offices. The purpose of integrating property documents with e-khata is to prevent forgery and corruption and increase revenue," he added. Karnataka HC hearing PIL against e-Khata His statement came at a time when the Karnataka High Court was hearing a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) challenging the mandatory use of the e-khata system through the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike’s (BBMP) e-Aasthi scheme for property registrations. He said that in the 2023-24 financial year, the Department of Stamps and Registration collected revenue of Rs 20,287 crore. He stated that the revenue growth of the department this year reached 26 per cent, compared to Karnataka's average revenue growth of 11 per cent. As of November, the department collected Rs 15,145 crore in revenue, and Gowda expected the growth to remain over 20 per cent by the end of the financial year.
