Circular No. 21124/C1/2018 dated 9 January 2019

What the circular covers

The Tamil Nadu Commercial Taxes and Registration Department's Circular No. 21124/C1/2018 dated 9 January 2019 concerns online applications for encumbrance certificates. Government Order No. 110 of the Commercial Taxes and Registration Department dated 30 August 2018 added Rule 147(A) to the Registration Rules, 1949, giving legal recognition to QR coded and digitally signed encumbrance certificates and certified document copies.

The online facility was inaugurated on 10 December 2018. After the prescribed fee is paid online, the encumbrance certificate is prepared with a QR code and the relevant Sub-Registrar's digital signature, then sent to the applicant's user login.

Who is affected

Circular No. 21124/C1/2018 applies to people seeking encumbrance certificates and to Sub-Registrar office staff processing their online applications.

• Encumbrance records from 1 January 1975 to the current date are computerised and supplied through the computer system.
• From 2 January 2019, applications for certificates covering this computerised period must be made online.
• Applications for that period cannot be submitted directly at a Sub-Registrar office.
• Applicants should provide enough property information to support an accurate search.

How records must be selected

Circular No. 21124/C1/2018 gives the following instructions to staff:

• If boundaries and all other details clearly identify the property, select only encumbrances relating to that specific property.
• If only a survey number is given, select all encumbrances displayed by the software for that survey number. Staff need not contact the applicant.
• If a survey number and plot number are given, select records for that plot and its prior documents, while excluding records for other plot numbers.
• If a survey number and flat number are given, select records for that flat and its prior documents. Where the first sale record has no flat number, include relevant records without a flat number and the connected prior documents. Records for a different flat number in a later sale must be omitted.
• If the survey number, flat number and current owner's name are supplied, select linked parent and child records where the owner's name appears. If the name does not appear in any displayed record, follow the flat number procedure.
• If staff are unsure whether an encumbrance relates to the property, they must include it rather than leave it out. They do not need to contact the applicant for more information.