A brief history of Khata in Whitefield, and

guidelines on obtaining Khata for your property

in Whitefield area.

Whitefield
Khata Guide
History, FAQ & Guidelines

Raghunandan TR

1 SUMMARY
This document is in three parts. The first is a history of the Whitefield area and why we have a Khata problem. The
second post is a set of FAQs on Khatas. The third post is some general guidance on how to approach the
authorities for your Khatas. I hope this is useful. Will be happy to take questions, but on the group, because I am
not in town at the moment.

2 HISTORY OF THE WHITEFIELD AREA

2.1 BACKGROUND
Till the late nineties, if I remember correctly, Whitefield was a Gram Panchayat. The administration of Gram
Panchayats is governed by the Karnataka Panchayat Raj Act 1993. Under this Act, the Panchayats are also
empowered to collect property taxes. For this purpose, Whitefield Gram Panchayat used to maintain Khata
registers. Older residents of Whitefield have copies of these extracts of the Whitefield Khata registers, as also
property tax receipts for having paid property tax on their properties.

2.2 RECENT PAST

In the late nineties, Whitefield Panchayat was amalgamated along with a few other Gram Panchayats (such as
Marathahalli and Mahadevapura) into the Mahadevapura City Municipal Corporation. Thus, Whitefield ceased to
come under the Karnataka Panchayat Raj Act 1993 and its administration came under the Karnataka Municipal
Corporation Act 1976. Some of the residents went to the Mahadevapura CMC office and obtained Khatas from
them. Others did not. In fact, under the law, there was no obligation cast upon residents to go and obtain Khatas,
from the CMC. It was the CMCs job to automatically take over the Khata records of the Panchayats concerned and
amalgamate them into the Khata register of the CMC. However, this did not happen well at all. Many of the older
residents of Whitefield recall that when they went to the CMC office to obtain information, or to make enquiries as
to how to go ahead, either they were faced with demands for bribes, or were sent away with vague and misleading
replies. Therefore, many residents only have copies of their old Whitefield Village Khatas, and did not obtain the
Mahadevapura CMC Khatas.

2.3 CMC RECORDS

Everybody knows that Mahadevapura CMC records were very badly managed. This can be traced back to two
reasons

2.3.1 THE INEFFICIENCY OF THE GOVERNMENT SYSTEM

When Mahadevapura CMC was formed, the staff of the Rural Development Department, who handled Panchayat
matters were withdrawn and municipal employees were posted. Municipalities always were understaffed and
Mahadevapura was no exception. Hence it is said that proper records were not maintained from the beginning.
There were also complaints that property taxes paid were also not credited to the CMCs account!

2.3.2 THE ACTIVITIES OF UNSCRUPULOUS ELEMENTS AND LAND GRABBERS

Box 3
Most cities in the country are
growing rapidly and Bangalore
is probably the fastest amongst
them. Since land values are very
high in the city, many
commercial property developers
began to develop housing and
apartment complexes on the
periphery of the city, in lands
mostly
located
in
Gram
Panchayats.
Now,
Gram
Panchayats are governed by the
Karnataka Panchayat Raj Act,
and it is under this act that they
give the building licenses to
construct. But this law is not
designed to consider instances of
construction of such large and
complex layouts it is more for
the purpose of handling the
construction of farmhouses and
smaller individual houses. But
since there is a time lag between
the
actual
process
of
urbanization and the formal
process of including such built
up areas into the BBMP, Gram
Panchayats had to cope with the
task of giving licenses to these
builders to construct complexes.
They were unable to do this well.

When the Whitefield records were transferred to Mahadevapura CMC, it provided an

excellent opportunity to lose some of these records. Once lost, new records could
be fabricated to show new owners for vacant lands, including government lands.
Since land values were increasing and commercial development started, land
grabbers began to realize that the time when a Village transforms into a part of the
city is a good time to fabricate records. Incidentally, it was not the Khata documents
alone that were lost in this way. Many Whitefield residents also speak of original
survey documents having been tampered with, or destroyed, and fresh evidence
fabricated about ownership of lands. (See Box 2)

2.4

FORMATION OF BBMP

Merger of Whitefield into BBMP and the issues that consequently arose:

2.4.1 MERGER OF CMCS

On 16-1- 2007, the State Government constituted the BBMP by merging seven CMCs
(including Mahadevapura CMC), 1 TMC and some Gram Panchayats, with the
erstwhile BMP. In principle, as soon as the Mahadevapura CMC became part of the
BBMP, it should have become the responsibility of the BBMP to take over the
property list of Mahadevapura CMC and integrate it with its own property list.
However, this did not happen. There were both genuine and mischievous reasons for
this.

2.4.2 REASONS FOR DELAY IN INTEGRATION

Genuine reasons for delays in integration of Khata register of CMCs with BBMP:

2.4.2.1 R EASON 1: N EED TO STANDARDIZE PROPERTY TAXATION SYSTEMS

At the time of merger, the BMP and the CMCs were operating two separate property
tax systems. The BMP was collecting property tax on the basis of Annual Rental Value
under the optional Self-Assessment System, whereas the CMCs, TMC were collecting
tax under the capital value system under the provisions of the Karnataka
Municipalities Act, 1964. Following the merger, it was felt necessary to bring in a
uniform property tax policy in the entire BBMP area. Therefore, 2 years later, the
Karnataka Municipal Corporations Act, 1976 was amended on 5th March 2009, by
inserting a new section 108A, giving the detailed process for the assessment and
collection of property tax on the basis of unit area value, from all properties falling
within the BBMP area, including amalgamated areas.

2.4.2.2 R EASON 2: N EED TO TAKE STEPS AGAINST IRREGULARLY

CONSTRUCTED BUILDINGS

To obtain a Khata for a new building, it must in the first place be a

building that has all the legal sanctions. However, many Apartment
complexes built in the Panchayats surrounding Bangalore were found
to have violated several laws. For instance, they were constructed on
agricultural land that was not converted, or were built in violation of
building bylaws, or no occupancy or completion certificates had been
issued. (See Box 3 & 4)
In the normal course, if a building has flouted building norms, the
builders will not issue the occupancy certificate to flat buyers. In the
absence of the occupancy certificate the BBMP will not issue the
Khata certificate.

2.4.3 PROBLEMS FACED BY BBMP, CONCERNING IRREGULAR

CONSTRUCTIONS

Box 3
large and complex layouts it is
more for the purpose of handling
the construction of farmhouses
and smaller individual houses.
But since there is a time lag
between the actual process of
urbanization and the formal
process of including such built
up areas into the BBMP, Gram
Panchayats had to cope with the
task of giving licenses to these
builders to construct complexes.
They were unable to do this well.

Now, the BBMP was faced with a big problem. Let us remember one
thing, who loses more, if property owners do not have Khatas?
Whilst the Khata is an important document for all of us, it is actually
more important for the BBMP, because it is the property list on the
basis of which tax can be collected by the BBMP. If a Khata is not
given by the BBMP, they lose much more than we do. They cannot
collect property tax from you!

2.4.4 HOW THE BBMP OVERCAME THIS PROBLEM:

So the BBMP did a very smart thing to not issue regular Khatas for properties that have been constructed
irregularly, but at the same time, collect tax from them. They did this by amending sub-section 3 of Section 108A,
in the Karnataka Municipal Corporations Act 1976, enabling them to levy and collect the property tax even from a
building constructed in violation of the provisions of the building byelaws or in an unauthorized layout or in a
revenue land or from a building occupied without issuance of occupancy or completion certificate. The property
tax collected from such building is to be maintained in a separate register. This is the B register, and the Khata
issued under this register is the B Khata. The B Khata certificate has all the essence of a regular Khata but it will be
made regular once the building concerned has been regularized by the authorities.

2.4.5 MISCHIEVOUS REASONS WHY THERE IS STILL CONFUSION!

1.

2.

The above information takes a little time to absorb, but then, confusion is what corrupt people want! The
BBMP staff has been spreading confusion and misinformation about the above issues. Along with the BBMP
staff, others in the business of confusion include builders agents and other intermediaries.
The first element of confusion that is being created by these elements is that all citizens must apply for a fresh
Khata. This is completely untrue. There is no written instruction in this regard. In case you have an erstwhile
Panchayat or Mahadevapura CMC Khata, then there is no question of applying for BBMP Khata. Once these
areas are taken over by the BBMP on an as-is-where-is basis and it is their duty to amalgamate the registers. If
they have not done so, the burden of applying for a Khata does not lie with Property owners.

3.

4.

BBMP has not disclosed the actual legal position to the general public, but their staff verbally insists that even
those who have CMC Khatas must apply afresh to obtain a new BBMP Khata. A Khata once issued by a local
authority is final and they need not apply for another Khata at all.
Asking us to apply afresh for a Khata is as ridiculous as saying that once weve come under the BBMP, we must
renew our birth certificates, failing which we will all be treated as officially unborn.

2.4.6 WHAT IS THE LEGAL RIGHT OF AN IRREGULAR CONSTRUCTION IN RESPECT OF A KHATA?

It could be that during the erstwhile CMC regime a building might have been constructed in violation of the
building byelaws, or the layout formed was not approved by the local planning authority (for instance, the BDA) or
that land was not converted from agricultural use to non agricultural use. Before layouts were formed on it. All
these properties are entitled to get a B Khata, under the amended Section 108(A) (3) of the Karnataka Municipal
Corporations Act 1976.

2.4.7 THEN WHAT IS SAKRAMA?

Sakrama means regularisation. This is a separate issue altogether, which is not related to Khatas at all. Under the
proposed Sakrama scheme, the government aims to collect a onetime fine in return for regularizing an illegal
construction. Incidentally, this is not yet through and the Governor has returned this law back to the government
for reconsideration.
It is the BBMPs job to clearly separate the Khata and Sakrama issues and inform the public about the correct
position under the law.

3 FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

3.1 WHAT IS A KHATA?
The term Khata literally means an account. This term has a long history. Kingdoms levied land revenue on citizens
to raise the bulk of their resources. For this purpose, they developed systems for measuring of land and appointed
collectors to estimate and collect the taxes. Each land owner was assigned a Khata in the records of the tax
collectors, in which details of the estimated tax payable and the collections made from year to year was recorded.
This system is still in vogue in the country, both in urban and rural areas.
In cities, the Khata still means the account of the house owner in the records of the Corporation/Municipality.
Obviously, the Khata register of the Corporation becomes an important document that contains brief details of the
property, the estimated property tax and other cesses payable on the property and the property tax and cesses
collected every year. It is therefore an account of a person who has property in the city, as also an account of
assessment of property owners within the Corporations jurisdiction. It contains important details of properties
concerned, such as the name of owner, the size of buildings etc., its location and the tax to which it is assessed.

3.2 WHY IS THE KHATA IMPORTANT ?

One has to step back and understand the larger picture here. We use the term land title very loosely in India. In
many countries, there is actually a system of a Title deed for every property. This is a single document, which is
considered as conclusive proof of ownership of property (and therefore, Title). In fact, in many countries, the title

deed is also guaranteed by the Government. In other words, if it is found that the title is wrong, then the
government is liable to compensate people who suffered loss on account of dealing with such lands.
In India, we do not have any such Title document. So we have to assemble together the proof of ownership
through a set of documents, which can establish to a high degree, that we own a particular property. These
documents are
(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)

a sale deed, in case you bought a property

an inheritance deed or will, in case you inherited it
a Property tax receipt, to show that you have been paying property tax. And
a Khata extract and Khata certificate, which shows that your name exists in the Municipal records as the
owner of the property, who pays tax to the Municipality.

Thus, a Khata is an important document because it is an important evidence of who owns and possesses the
property concerned. However, it is not the sole or conclusive evidence. And its accuracy is not guaranteed by the
government.
In the absence of a single title deed, in India, whenever you are involved in a transaction that relates to property,
say, for example, you apply for a building license or a license for trade, or if you apply for a loan from a bank or
financial institution, you are asked to produce a Khata document, because thats one way of establishing that you
own property. So the importance of a Khata has grown, (a) because of long established practice and (b) because
there is a legal vacuum we do not have a guaranteed land titling system in India.

3.3 WHAT IS THE LEGAL RIGHT GIVEN THROUGH A KHATA?

Strictly speaking, a Khata certificate or Khata extract is only evidence that property tax has been paid on the said
property. It does not confer any ownership of property on the person in whose name it stands.
There are several judgments of the High Court of Karnataka on the issue of the Khata. The latest one, and
therefore the most contemporary pronouncement of the law, is in Writ Petition No. 16738 of 2005; Jayamma vs.
Assistant Revenue Officer, Hombegowda Nagar Range and others
Citation: ILR2009KAR458, 2009(3)KarLJ630 (and on the net in MANU/KA/0450/2008)
Decided on: 25.09.2008, by Justice Ram Mohan Reddy
Relevant extract of the judgment:
Para 6. The word 'katha' is not found in the Act, but in common parlance, over the years, is synonymous
with the certificate issued by the Corporation in exercise of jurisdiction under Section 114 of the
(Karnataka Municipalities) Act, recording the name of the owner/occupier of the immovable property,
primarily responsible to pay the Corporation taxes. It is also true that this 'katha', is important on account
of its relevancy for variety of purposes, be it securing a gas connection, telephone line, driving licence,
ration card, mortgage by deposit of title deeds , conveyance of immovable property, licence to erect a
building, so on and so forth, though does not confer right title or interest in the immovable property.

3.4 WHAT IS THE PHYSICAL FORM OF THE KHATA THAT WE ARE ENTITLED TO?

There are two Khata related documents from the BBMP. These are (a) the Khata Certificate and (b) the Khata
Extract. All property owners/holders who hold property within the jurisdiction of the BBMP are eligible to obtain a
Khata document from the BBMP.

3.5 WHAT IS A KHATA CERTIFICATE?

The Khata certificate states that a particular property No XYZ stands in the name of a particular person A. The
Khata certificate is given only to the owner of the property or to his family members. No one else can take it on his
behalf.

3.6 WHY IS A BBMP KHATA CERTIFICATE IMPORTANT?

A BBMP Khata certificate is required for three major purposes:
1) For registration of a new property
2) For transfer of any property
3) To apply for water connection, electricity connection, trade license and building license.

3.7 WHAT IS A KHATA EXTRACT?

A Khata Extract is an extract taken from the assessment register of the BBMP giving details of the property
concerned, such as the name of the property, its size, the use to which it is put (commercial purpose, residential),
and its annual value, fixed when it was last assessed.

3.8 FOR WHAT IS THE KHATA EXTRACT REQUIRED?

A Khata extract is required to
a.
b.

apply for obtaining a trade license, or

to buy a property.

4 DOCUMENTS REQUIRED FOR KHATA

Category A
Those who have
been able to obtain
a Khata issued by
the
erstwhile
Mahadevapura
CMC

Category B
Those who have a
Village panchayat
Khata issued by the
erstwhile
Whitefield Village
panchayat, but for
some reason, were
unable to obtain a
Khata issued by the
erstwhile
Mahadevapura
CMC. These would
be mostly long
standing residents

Category C
Those who have no
Khatas, who are
eligible for A
Khatas and want to
apply for these

Category D
Those who have
already obtained
B Khatas from
BBMP and want to
convert
their
Khatas into A
Khatas

Category E
Those who have no
Khatas, who are
eligible for B
Khatas and want to
apply for these.

For each of these categories of people, here are the strategies to be followed:

4.1 PROCEDURE TO BE FOLLOWED BY CATEGORY A AND CATEGORY B

i.e., those who have been able to obtain a Khata issued by the erstwhile Mahadevapura CMC; or who have
Whitefield Village Khatas.
Property owners belonging to this category should apply for a Khata certificate and an extract of the Khata register
from the BBMP. The process is described below:

4.1.1 KHATA CERTIFICATE

4.1.1.1 H OW SHOULD ONE APPLY FOR A K HATA CERTIFICATE ?
The owner of the property has to give a letter of requisition along with details and receipts of latest tax paid

4.1.1.2 W HAT ARE THE DOCUMENTS TO BE ANNEXED TO THE APPLICATION ?

All earlier documents of proof of ownership, such as sale deed, land alienation order (conversion of
agricultural to non agricultural property, earlier Khata extract of Mahadevapura CMC and/or Whitefield
Village Khatas.)
These residents will also have to keep their tax paid receipts for having paid property tax, both in the
Whitefield Village (if available) as well as in Mahadevapura CMC
Also proof of residence, such as electricity and water bills, Passport copy, Driving licence copy, ration card,
pan card election voter card

4.1.1.3 T O WHOM SHOULD ONE APPLY ?

Applications should be given to the Assistant officer for the sub-division or range. I think the application can be
given in the Whitefield office itself. If not, in the Mahadevapura office

4.1.1.4 W HAT IS THE APPLICATION FEE ?

The application fee is Rs.25/- per property, for which the Khata certificate is sought.

4.1.1.5 H OW LONG DOES IT TAKE TO GET A K HATA C ERTIFICATE ?

The maximum period within which a Khata certificate should be given is one week under Sakaala. One is also
supposed to get it instantly in some citizen service centres, such as the Bangalore one centre.

4.1.2 KHATA EXTRACT

4.1.2.1 H OW SHOULD ONE APPLY FOR A K HATA EXTRACT ?
For getting a Khata extract, the owner of the property has to give letter of requisition with property location and
details.

4.1.2.2 W HAT ARE THE DOCUMENTS TO BE ANNEXED TO THE APPLICATION ?

All earlier documents of proof of ownership, such as sale deed, land alienation order (conversion of
agricultural to non-agricultural property, earlier Khata extract of Mahadevapura CMC and/or Whitefield
Village Khatas.)
These residents will also have to keep their tax paid receipts for having paid property tax, both in the
Whitefield Village (if available) as well as in Mahadevapura CMC
Also proof of residence, such as electricity and water bills, Passport copy, Driving licence copy, ration card,
pan card election voter card

4.1.2.3 T O WHOM SHOULD ONE APPLY ?

Applications should be given to the Assistant officer for the sub-division or range. I think the application can be
given in the Whitefield office itself. If not, in the Mahadevapura office

4.1.2.4 W HAT IS THE APPLICATION FEE ?

The fee is Rs.100/- per extract of the property, for a period of 5 years.

4.1.2.5 H OW LONG DOES IT TAKE TO GET A K HATA E XTRACT ?

One week.
While applying for Khata, please enclose these essential documents and fill up the necessary information in the
application form. Submit the filled registration form at the BBMP office and obtain an acknowledgement for the
same, bearing the seal of the office. The acknowledgement is part of the one of the sheets in the application.
Once we apply as above, then the BBMP has to either give you the above documents, or they have to admit that
they do not have the original documents! I guess that the BBMP will remain silent and not reply to us. So after
waiting for a sufficiently long period, say, 2 weeks, one could file an RTI application as to why the BBMP is not
giving one a Khata! One can ask for (a) details where Khatas have been given in Whitefield (Surely, there will be
some cases where they would have done this, by taking bribes) (b) whether any written instructions exist to the
effect that Khatas cannot be given to old Khata holders of Village Panchayats or erstwhile CMCs, unless they apply
afresh. If we get information that Khatas have been given for some properties and also that there are no
instructions that property owners who had Khatas in the erstwhile Panchayat and CMC should apply afresh for
Khata registration, then the BBMP will feel the heat and has to buckle down and give us Khatas.

4.2 CATEGORY C

Those who want A Khatas afresh:

4.2.1 KHATA REGISTRATION

They have to apply for Khata registration as follows

4.2.1.1 W HAT IS K HATA R EGISTRATION ?

As the city expands, many new areas get added to it. Through a number of ways, new properties are added to the
city, for example, through allotment from the BDA or Housing Board, or through the construction of flats and their
sale. Each of these properties will require the creation of new Khatas in the records of the BBMP . This process is
called Khata registration.

4.2.1.2 H OW SHOULD ONE APPLY FOR A K HATA REGISTRATION ?

The application for Khata registration has to be made in the prescribed form. This is available either online or at
any BBMP office. Making an application costs Rs10.

4.2.1.3 W HAT ARE THE DOCUMENTS TO BE ANNEXED TO THE APPLICATION ?

A. For properties allotted by Bangalore Development Authority / Karnataka Housing Board
(1)
(2)
(3)
(4)
(5)

B.

Application in prescribed form

Attested copy of the title deed
Copies of previous tax paid receipts
Possession certificate
Sketch showing the location of Property

Revenue Pockets, BDA Reconveyed areas, Gramathana, high rise buildings (both apartments and
commercial complexes)
(1) Application in prescribed form
(2) Title documents, flow chart of the Title
(3) Copies of previous tax paid receipts
(4) Proof of improvement charges paid
(5) Khata extract issued by previous authority / local body.
(6) Sketch showing the location and measurements of the property

4.2.1.4 T O WHOM SHOULD ONE APPLY ?

Assistant revenue officer for the sub-division or range between 10 am to 1:30 pm and 2:30 pm to 5:30 pm on all
working days.

4.2.1.5 W HAT IS THE APPLICATION FEE ?

The fee is Rs.100/- per extract of the property, for a period of 5 years.

4.2.1.6 H OW DO I PAY THE APPLICATION FEE ?

Through demand draft

4.2.1.7 H OW LONG DOES IT TAKE FOR A K HATA R EGISTRATION TO BE COMPLETED ?

(1) 7 working days in the case of BDA/KHB allotted properties

(2) 30 working days in the case of revenue extensions, BDA re-conveyed areas, gramathana, high-rise
buildings (both apartments & commercial complexes)

4.2.1.8 W HAT HAPPENS AFTER THE APPLICATION IS SUBMITTED ?

First, the property is assessed for property tax. The BBMP Revenue In-charge and Assistant Revenue Officer
personally visits the property to assess the property.
Second, BBMP formally communicates the assessment to you, mentioning (i) the property dimensions (in sq feet),
(ii) its value as per BBMP assessment and (iii) the property tax liability thereon.
Third, you will also receive a notice from the BBMP informing you to pay the Khata Registration fee, which is 2% of
the property value as mentioned in the Sale deed.
Fourth, once you pay the Khata Registration fee, in about 1-2 weeks, you will receive the notice for paying the
pending property tax. This means that technically, the Khata has been registered on your name. However, without
paying the property tax, the Khata Extract will not be issued in your name.
What happens after a new Khata Registration is completed? Khata Certificate is obtained for any new registration
after paying the tax. The property owner can pay their property tax in two instalments but improvement expense
must be paid in lump sum.

4.2.2 CATEGORY D
Those who have B Khatas and want A Khatas
These individuals have already obtained B Khatas, so they will have to produce those additional documents that
show that they have constructed the structure after following all rules and regulations. As soon as the intervening
irregularity is made up, for example, you get the occupancy certificate, or the non-agricultural occupation of land is
regularized, your Khata is transferred to the A Khata register.
The primary task is to show that the intervening irregularity has been since cured. For this, one will have to obtain
the following documents, which are to be given by the builder:
(1) Title documents, flow chart of the title [The developer has to give these details. Normally it should form
part of the sale deed itself.]
(2) Copies of previous tax paid receipts,
(3) Order of conversion of land from agricultural to non-agricultural purpose
(4) Proof of improvement charges paid, if any,
(5) Khata extract issued by the erstwhile Panchayat (The developer has to give this copy.)
(6) A Sketch showing the location and measurements of the property (the builder has to give a certified
measurement)
(7) The possession certificate
(8) The occupancy certificate: The key is the Occupancy certificate, which the BBMP issues to the Builder, (in
the case of flats). This shows that all rules and regulations have been followed.

4.2.2.1 I MPORTANCE OF THE O CCUPANCY C ERTIFICATE

You must pressurise your builder to give you the occupancy certificate. Sometimes builders or their agents will
promise to get you a Khata from the BBMP for a fee. Please question your builder, or his agent or middleman, very
closely. Ask him what kind of Khata he will get you. An A Khata, or a B Khata? If he promises you an A Khata, ask
him to show you the occupancy certificate. If he does not have an occupancy certificate and he promises you an A

Khata, then he is lying to you. He cannot get you an A Khata. If he has an occupancy certificate, then he must give
you a copy. If the builder refuses or dodges you, then you can safely presume that your case it not still fit for
securing an A Khata. Moreover, your builders promise to get you a B Khata is no big deal, because you can apply
for it and get it yourself!
If you have the Occupancy certificate along with the other certificates required, then you can apply for a Khata
registration, in exactly the same manner as described above.
Depending on whether you apartment has the occupancy certificate issued by the competent authority or not you
will need to enclose the documents as mentioned above. This information, on the documents required are posted
on the BBMP website www.bbmp.gov.in under "Katha service". In the said page itself it is mentioned that if the
building is built on revenue land and has not been regularized by the government, then, BBMP for the purpose of
property tax will enter the particulars in B register and issue a B Katha. Therefore you should not have a problem in
getting the B Katha at least.

4.2.3 CATEGORY E
Those who want B Khatas:
This is the residual category; comprising of property owners who do not fit into any of the above categories. Most
likely, these individuals own properties that are constructed on revenue land, i.e., land that was not converted
from Agricultural to non-agricultural use before construction. In such cases, B Khata Registration will be done and
details of such properties will be maintained in a separate register named the B Register of the BBMP.
The application process for B Khatas is similar to the Khata registration process, except that there is a separate
form in which to apply. Once the application is made, the Khata will be registered and the property assessed for
property tax, which the holder will be liable to pay.
Please not, Section 108 A of the KMC Act also very clearly states that the levy and collection of property tax under
sub-section (3) by assigning a B Khata does not confer any right to regularise violation made, or title, ownership
or legal status to such building and such buildings shall always be liable for any action for violation of law in
accordance with the provisions of this Act or any other law.

5 AVOIDING BRIBE
My closing post is on some simple ways you can avoid paying bribes in getting your Khatas.

5.1.1 SOME GENERAL POINTS ON HOW TO CONDUCT YOURSELVES

Make your effort a collective one. Assign roles to people and they should play their roles. There are no
leaders, just teams of people. Let all decisions be collective decisions.
Be confident and firm and believe that you will succeed. You are not going to commit a crime by asking for
your rights. You must not be put off by roadblocks and delays.
You must be very polite when dealing with government officers, but also firm. Plese make it very clear
that you will not pay a bribe at any cost.
Please do all your homework in advance. My notes may be a starting point, but they might not be
complete. So double check my advice also. Most corrupt offices take us for a ride because we do not do
any homework before going to seek something.

Please be patient, when faced with delaying tactics. After all, youve waited so long for Khatas; so you are
in no particular hurry, are you? If you are asked to wait, please do. But do not go away without being
heard.
Additional information: When an official is consistently unavailable in office, please leave a letter that says
(for example) that you came to visit the official at the time and date specified but that he/she was not
available. Please say that his/her staff told you to come again on another date (to be specified). Such
letters will make the official feel that he/she must take special care of your work that you are people
that should be taken seriously.
Please do not deal with any middlemen outside the office. Some will surely approach you, when they
know that you want your Khatas. First, they will offer their help, for a price. Then when they find out that
you are serious about going about this without bribing, they will become rude, even threaten you of
undesirable consequences. Plese behave exactly in the same fashion as before. Listen to them at best, and
then ignore them and go about your work yourselves.
Try to tackle the government officers as a group, never alone. People in corrupt offices get a little worried
when you go as a group.
Speak openly. If somebody hints at a bribe, Politely cut him short and tell him/her clearly, within the
hearing of others, that you will not pay bribes.
Please do not accept any oral instructions from any government official. If any government official speaks
of a procedure, that you do not know of or is not in the rule book, (a) write a letter saying that they
demanded these papers and seeking to know the written instructions under which these are mandatory.
(b) If there is no response, file RTI applications to find our whether such a written instruction exists. (c)
Also use RTI Act to find out whether such papers have been demanded from other applicants.in this
regard.
A hint here: It you are asked to bring some additional papers, and then an official offers to do the work
without these additional papers for a bribe, then it is conclusive proof that such papers are unnecessary in
the first place.
Please do not submit any applications or papers, without obtaining a written acknowledgement that such
papers have been submitted. Also, under Sakaala, please note that you are entitled to receive an
acknowledgement for an application.
Please carry recording instruments; such as a mobile. Every conversation can be recorded and then
documented, including time and day. (This might be considered a little tedious but this is very useful,
because we all tend to forget very quickly, what was said).

The purpose of the above steps is twofold

a.
b.

These improve your confidence, knowledge and negotiating ability

it disrupts the normal behaviour pattern to which corrupt people are used. They expect you to be unsure
and confused when you visit an office. By going there confidently, in a group and speaking bluntly as one,
you are disrupting their pattern and making the conversation run according to your pattern. You control
the conversation!

So that's it. Good luck. And if you want help, please ask.

6 REFERENCE

https://www.facebook.com/groups/whitefieldrising/permalink/690757917682146/
https://www.facebook.com/groups/whitefieldrising/permalink/690760324348572/
https://www.facebook.com/groups/whitefieldrising/permalink/690763504348254/
https://www.facebook.com/groups/whitefieldrising/permalink/690765541014717/