• & law on registration comes under the concurrent list
• ! Land and property disputes form two thirds of the civil litigation in the country.

November 2025

Laws affected

Replacing the Registration Act of 1908, and also affects - Transfer of Property Act, 1882, - The Stamp Act, 1899 and - The Indian Succession Act, 1925.

By

The Department of Land Resources, under Ministry of Rural Development introduced the draft bill in May this year

Purpose of the bill

• give security of title to the person acquiring property,
• prevent frauds in property transactions,
• to provide authentic copies of deeds in case of loss or destruction of the same,
• to avoid litigation regarding the authenticity of wills and
• to create a publicly accessible record of all property transactions so that anyone dealing with a property can take an informed decision.

Section 55 of the Transfer of Property Act, 1882

all pending litigation in relation to a property by a prospective buyer should be placed on record.

Under Section 55 of the Transfer of Property Act, 1882 in India, it is the seller who must disclose any defects in the title of the property to the buyer.

If the seller fails to disclose these defects, the buyer has the right to cancel the contract (rescind the sale) or claim damages for any loss suffered.

Changes proposed

Uniform Administrative Structure

The Bill provides a uniform administrative structure under the Inspector General of Registrations (IGR) across states, which includes the upgradation of technology at registration offices to facilitate the option of electronic signatures under the IT Act 2000, and allowing online document submissions and conditional online appearances for registration.

Responsibility of lending institutions

Banks and financial institutions will be mandated to file a copy of the title deed with the registering officer within the local jurisdiction and notify the officer about mortgage on the property.

Suggestions

Mandate linking with PAN or Aadhaar card

Provision mandating the concerned registering officers to link all the immovable properties with the PAN Card or Aadhaar Card of the owner, to reduce benami transactions.

geo referenced drone surveys

In case of non-availability of record of rights, parties may be asked to get a fresh geo-referenced drone-survey of the plot under transfer and the adjacent plots.

To reduce litigation, compulsory description of property based on RoR

Another step to reduce litigation would be the compulsory description of property based on the record of rights (RoR) or any other record having spatial description. Some states have made it mandatory to describe property based on the record of rights and attach new maps in case of the transfer of a part of the property. This has been done through administrative instructions only. It should be given legal standing by making appropriate provisions in this section.

Non precedence of registered will over a non registered will

Due to this legal position, many times, after the death of a person multiple unregistered wills appear in the possession of interested parties, leading to long-drawn out litigation.

This situation can be resolved if registration of a will is made compulsory under the law.

General terminologies

English and Equitable Mortgage

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