How to get Property Encumbrance Certificate online in Karnataka?

Buying a property (home/plot/land) is one of the most important decisions that you will ever make. Buying a property involves a lot of money and it is a serious money decision.

When buying a property, due diligence is essential and you have to verify a lot of property documents. One of the important documents that you need to apply and verify is an Encumbrance Certificate or popularly known as the EC.

An encumbrance certificate is important not only while buying a property but also when you are applying for a home loan or going in for a loan against the property.

The Dept of Stamps & Registration of Govt of Karnataka is officially going to launch online Property registration & other services very soon. A slew of services, under the umbrella of Kaveri Online Services are available online.

The citizens can now book slots for property registration in advance online. The government has also made encumbrance certificates (ECs) online. The State’s Stamp & Registration department has digitized records from 2003 onward, which means property buyers will be able to virtually access digitally-signed encumbrance details for a property since then.

In this post, let us understand – What is EC (Encumbrance Certificate)? How to apply for Karnataka Property Encumbrance Certificate online? What is the procedure to get EC online for the properties in Bangalore, Karnataka? Is it possible to get digitally signed copy (certified copy) of EC online? – Let’s discuss….

What is an Encumbrance Certificate?

Let us first understand, what is ENCUMBRANCE? – The dictionary meaning of the word encumbrance is, ‘a claim on property or assets’ or ‘a mortgage’. An encumbrance is a legal claim on a property that affects the owner’s ability to transfer the ownership of the property. Encumbrance means whether the properties have any lien on them, whether attached by the court, whether mortgaged or sold etc. by the owner of the said properties.

An encumbrance certificate is evidence that the property in question is free from any monetary and legal liabilities. An encumbrance certificate contains details of all transactions done on the specific property.

For example – If the property in question has a home loan on it then you can find this information when you take EC. If the current owner has acquired the property through a Gift Deed, you can verify these details in EC.

Encumbrance Certificate can be obtained from the sub-registrar’s office where the deed has been registered. (In some of the States an EC can be obtained online too.)

How to get Encumbrance Certificate online in Karnataka?

Below is the procedure to download/get EC online for properties located in Karnataka state;

• Kindly visit Kaveri online services portal.
• You need to register as a ‘new user’ to get EC online.
• Click on ‘Register as New User’ option under Login section of the portal.
• You need to provide your personal details like Name, Date of Birth, Address, PAN, Mobile number, Email Id etc., and click on ‘Register’ button.
• An activation code is sent to your email Id. You will also receive an SMS with same activation code and also password to login. Kindly key in the code and click on ‘Activate’ button. You can login with the credentials and change the password.
• After login to the portal with your login name and password, click on ‘Online EC’ under ‘Services’ section.
• You have to select the duration range for EC (details are available from 2004 onwards) and provide the Property details as given in the concerned Sale Deed document. 
• You also have to provide Property Boundary details to get EC online. 
• Check ‘Send OTP to view Document’ option. An OTP is sent to your registered mobile number. You have to key-in that OTP to view/download Property Encumbrance Certificate online. 
• Click on ‘View Document’ to download or print the required EC certificate.
• Kindly note that the EC document which is generated is for information purposes only and it is free-of-cost. But, it is not a digitally signed certified copy.
• In case, you would like to download a certified copy of Encumbrance Certificate, select the option ‘Check to apply for digitally signed EC’ option after providing the OTP and then click on ‘View Document’.
• Click on ‘Proceed’ option at the end of the online PDF document and pay the required fees. 
• An online payment receipt gets generated. You can now click on ‘Refresh Payment status’.
• Your online EC application gets submitted and saved under ‘Pending / Saved Application’ section for further processing. Your application for EC will be sent to the concerned authorities and will be digitally signed.
• You can track the status of your EC application online (select ‘online EC application’ option under ‘Service type’ from the list) and can download the signed & Certified copy of EC once it is available online.

Following are the steps as given in the portal to download or apply for EC online.

How to get Property EC offline?

• To obtain EC offline, you need to submit Form No. 22 (application for EC).
• You have to affix Rs 2 non-judicial stamp on the application.
• You need to provide complete residential address and the purpose for which the certificate is required.
• Have to provide the survey number and place where the property is located. It is important to also mention the period (how many years you want EC for?), full description of the property, measurements and boundaries of the property. (If you are applying for a home loan then your lender may need EC statement for 10 to 15 years.)
• Enclose copies of your ID proof and residential address proof.
• Submit the forms to the concerned officer at the SRO (Sub-Registrar Office).
• You have to pay the required fees. The fee for EC is based on the number of years for which you would like to get the EC for. Kindly note that a fraction of a year is also considered to be a complete year. (EC is issued from the beginning of a Financial Year i.e, 1st of April)
• The ‘search fee’ for 1^st year can be in the range of Rs 15 to Rs 50 and for every additional year there can be fee in the range of Rs 5 to Rs 10 (approx). (The fee can vary from State to State. Generally it is very nominal.)
• The time taken to get EC statement is around 10 to 30 days.

Personally, I have observed that in most of the property deals, it is either the financial institution or a real estate agent or an agent at SRO who applies for an EC. Most of the times, the agents charge EXTRA amount to get the EC for you within 24 hours 🙂 .

Online Property Registration & other services

Besides online EC service, you can also avail other services like online Certified Copy of Sale Deed/Registration document, prior appointment for Property registration facility etc., by visiting Kaveri portal.

Continue reading :

• Checklist of Important Property Documents in India | Legal Checklist for Property Purchase
• What is Mutation of Property? How to apply for Mutation of Property?
• Khatha Registration & Khatha Transfer in Bangalore
• BDA e-auction : Details & Procedure

(Image courtesy of Stuart Miles at FreeDigitalPhotos.net) (Post first published on : 12-November-2018)