Encumbrance Certificate in Karnataka: Form 15, Form 16 and How to Apply on Kaveri
The encumbrance certificate (EC) is a list, kept by the registration department, of deeds recorded on one property across a chosen span of years. Every purchase in Bangalore involves one, and lenders will not sanction a home loan without it. This guide covers its two formats, Form 15 and Form 16, the way to apply on the Kaveri portal, how to read the entries and where the certificate falls short.
What the certificate records
Whenever a deed is registered, the sub-registrar's staff index it under the property concerned. The EC is an extract of that index. The Stamps and Registration Department issues it from the registers kept at its sub-registrar offices.
The deeds that typically appear are set out below.
- Sale deeds and registered agreements to sell
- Mortgage deeds and memoranda recording a deposit of title deeds with a lender
- Release, reconveyance and discharge deeds that close a mortgage
- Gift, settlement, partition and exchange deeds
- Leases that were registered, and registered powers of attorney over the property
- Court decrees and attachment orders that were sent for registration
The word "encumbrance" suggests debts alone, yet the certificate lists transfers of ownership as well. Read in date order, it becomes a short history of the property, which is why lawyers place it beside the title deeds.
Form 15 and Form 16
The result of a search comes in one of two formats, and the difference is simple.
| Point | Form 15 | Form 16 |
|---|---|---|
| Issued when | One or more registered deeds are found in the search span | The search span has no registered deed |
| Contents | A row for each deed, with its number, date, type, parties and value | A statement that nothing was found |
| Common name | Encumbrance certificate | Nil encumbrance certificate |
A Form 15 is normal and is no cause for alarm. Any property that has been bought, mortgaged or inherited in the search span will produce one, and the seller's own purchase deed should be among its rows. A Form 16 for a span in which the seller claims to have bought the property is the result that needs explaining.
A nil result depends entirely on the description that was searched. If the survey number, site number or boundaries were typed differently from the deeds, the system may find nothing. Compare the property schedule printed on the certificate with the schedule in the sale deed.
How many years to search
Lenders in Karnataka commonly ask for 13 years as a minimum, and a careful title search runs to 30. The span should reach back at least as far as the title chain the lawyer is reading. It should also run forward to the present month, because a certificate that stops last year says nothing about a loan taken since.
Long spans are usually taken in parts. Records from April 2004 onward are computerised and available online for most offices. Earlier years come from the handwritten registers at the sub-registrar's office, on a separate application that takes more days.
Applying on Kaveri Online Services
The EC is one of the online services on the department's Kaveri portal. The outline of the application is given below, and the screens are revised from time to time.
- Create a login with a mobile number and an email address
- Open the EC service and pick the district, taluk, hobli and village or locality
- Enter the property description: survey number, site or flat number, khata number and boundaries as in the deed
- Set the start and end dates of the search
- Review the entries the system shows and request the digitally signed copy
- Pay the fee and download the certificate once it is issued
The fee has two parts, an application charge and a search charge that grows with the span searched, and the total is small. A loan file or a lawyer's scrutiny needs the copy with the digital signature. The on-screen view carries no signature and serves for a first look.
Getting the description right
Land around the city has often changed its identity over time. A survey number becomes a sub-divided number, then a numbered site in a layout, then a flat with an undivided share. Search under each description that the property has carried, and ask the lawyer to run a second search by the names of the owners.
Reading a Form 15
Each row of the certificate describes one deed. The columns to follow are listed below.
- Description of the property, with measurements and boundaries
- Date of execution and date of registration
- Nature of the deed, such as sale, mortgage or release, and the value stated
- Executant, who signed the deed, and claimant, in whose favour it was made
- Document number, year and the office where it was registered
Start from the oldest row and move forward. The claimant under one sale deed should be the executant of the next, and a break in that pattern points to an inheritance, a partition or a missing deed. Ask for the paper that explains each break.
Pair every mortgage with its closure. A row showing a mortgage or a deposit of title deeds needs a later release or discharge row for the same lender. Without that closing row the loan is possibly still open, and the seller must produce the lender's no-dues letter and register the release before the sale.
Look also for a registered agreement to sell in favour of some third person. Unless a cancellation deed follows, that person may still hold a claim to buy the property. Certified copies of any deed in the list can be ordered by its document number.
What the certificate leaves out
The EC reflects registered deeds and nothing beyond them. Several real risks never reach the register, as the list below shows.
- Pending suits, unless a court order was sent for registration
- Unregistered agreements, family arrangements and oral partitions
- Claims of legal heirs who were left out of a sale
- Acquisition notifications and road-widening proposals
- Arrears of property tax, electricity or maintenance
- Deviations from the sanctioned plan
These gaps are covered by other searches: court records for suits, the central mortgage registry for loans, the civic body for tax and khata, and the planning authority for the plan. A clean EC is therefore one finding in a title report, and the report needs the rest.
When to take it
A buyer should see the certificate three times. The first is before paying a token, from the seller's file. The second is an independent one applied for by the buyer's lawyer during scrutiny, and the third is a fresh one in the week of registration.
After the sale, take one more that shows the new sale deed in the buyer's name. That copy supports the khata transfer and is the first paper a future buyer or lender will request. For a home bought with a loan, it will also show the lender's charge, which is cleared by a release entry when the loan is repaid.
Questions about the papers of a project listed with us are welcome through the contact page. Our team will point to the right record for each.
