The Registration Department has successfully completed a pilot project for automatic patta name transfer, and is awaiting the green signal to adopt the system throughout Tamil Nadu in phases. It is waiting for a date from Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami to launch the service in the 21 districts where it was tested.
A senior official of the Department said the project was initiated following a similar experiment in Perambalur district, where land documents since 1865 had been digitised.
The Perambalur model helped in implementing the automatic transfer of patta by integrating the Star 2 software of the Registration Department with the digital database of the Commissioner of Survey and Settlements in 21 districts. The 21 districts having only the rural area database, including Chengalpattu, Ariyalur, Thoothukudi, Thirupathur, Theni, Erode and Namakkal, were selected.
The official said the automatic patta transfer in these districts would be applicable to sale documents in the ‘not involving sub-division’ (NISD) category, and not to sale deeds or settlements in the ‘involving sub-division’ category.
The official said the system involved the verification of sale documents under the category of NISD. With all documents in order, the patta name would automatically be transferred in the Sub-Registrar Office itself; the buyer need not go to the Tahsildar’s office.
Many property owners have complained that the patta name transfer is a cumbersome process, in which those buying properties have to apply to the Tahsildar concerned by uploading all sale documents at e-Seva centres. Based on the application, a surveyor would be deputed to inspect the property, after which the name transfer would be done in the patta. The name transfer done at the registration office itself would bring relief to the owners.
