Almost seven years after its launch, the future of Urban Property Ownership Record (UPOR) project hangs in limbo with the technical service providers threatening to withdraw from it.
UPOR was launched as a pilot project in Mysuru in 2010 and entailed digitising property records complete with data of GIS-based survey and spatial details of the land, building area, history of transactions and mutation, among others embedded in the property register (PR) card. It was bandied as a solution to eliminate fraud in property transaction and was akin to RTC for rural properties.
While the project in Mysuru and to an extent in Shivamooga made headway, it failed to take off in other urban centres of the State. With the project failing to gain traction, the private technical service provider in Mysuru, who was authorised to recover the investments by levying a fee for the PR cards, is in doldrums.
So far, 3,17,831 properties have been surveyed in Mysuru and the 42 villages around it that are covered under the UPOR project.
But only 1,24,407 draft PR cards have been issued so far while the final PR card has been issued to only 34,708 property owners.
Sources in the UPOR project office told The Hindu that a meeting of the technical service providers was slated to take place in Bengaluru to thrash out the issue early this month but was postponed. “But a private entity has already submitted a letter expressing their intent to withdraw from the project,” said the official.
But sources said they were willing to continue in the project and take it to its logical end if the government agrees to their demand to fix a monthly emolument for the work undertaken.
Another reputed company specialising in GIS survey and geospatial consultancy, which is also involved in the project, has pointed out that it will be difficult to continue their association unless the PR cards were made mandatory.
Yet to be implemented
Though a notification has been issued to make UPOR card compulsory, it is yet to be implemented. Not all banks insist on UPOR card for sanctioning loans.
However, in case of disputed property or when the bonafides of the property is in doubt, the authorities consult the UPOR project office or direct the applicant seeking loans to procure PR card so as to ascertain the legal status of the property which they want to mortgage for loan.
Despite the inherent advantages, the project is in a limbo with the authorities uncertain of its future and is moving at a snail’s pace.
