A buyer looking at a site on the northern edge of Bengaluru was handed a neat set of papers, a sale deed in the seller's name and a confident assurance that the land was clean. Before paying, he pulled the government land record for the survey number on the state's Bhoomi portal. The owner column did not name the seller, and an entry in the liabilities column pointed to a loan the seller had never mentioned. The sale deed looked convincing on its own, but the revenue record told a different story about who the state believed owned the land and what was charged against it. A free document, read in a few minutes, had flagged a problem the paperwork had been arranged to hide.

The short answer. Before buying a site, especially one on revenue or recently converted land on the city's edges, pull the RTC, also called the Pahani, for the exact survey number on the Bhoomi land records portal, and read who is shown as the owner, the extent of the land, its classification, and any loan or liability noted in the record. Then read the mutation register to trace how the current owner's name reached the record. The RTC is a revenue record of possession, not conclusive proof of title, so pair it with the encumbrance certificate, the mother deed and the conversion order. The trade off is almost none, since the check is free and quick, and it is often the first place a mismatch shows.

What is the RTC or Pahani?

The RTC is Karnataka's core land record for a survey number, and Pahani is another name for the same document. RTC stands for Record of Rights, Tenancy and Crops, and it is the official record the revenue department maintains for a parcel of land, identified by its survey and hissa number. It records who is shown as holding the land, the extent of the parcel, the classification of the land, details of tenancy and crops, and importantly any liabilities such as a loan noted against the land. You can pull it yourself, for free, from the state's Bhoomi land records portal by selecting the district, taluk, hobli and village and entering the survey number, which returns the RTC on screen. For a buyer this is a starting point rather than a formality, because it is the government's own view of a parcel, independent of whatever the seller presents. The RTC matters most for sites on the outskirts, on revenue land or land only recently brought into non agricultural use, where the revenue record is often the clearest window into the land's real status.

What does the RTC actually show a buyer?

The RTC shows, in a set of columns, who holds the land, how much of it there is, what kind of land it is, and whether anything is charged against it. The owner or holder is recorded in a specific column, and the first thing to do is check that the name there matches the person selling to you, because a seller whose name is not on the record is not yet, in the state's eyes, the owner. The extent, usually stated in acres and guntas, should match the area you are being sold, since a mismatch can mean the parcel has been subdivided or that only a share is actually the seller's. The land classification, whether dry, wet or garden land, tells you the nature of the parcel and whether it is agricultural, which matters because agricultural land needs conversion before it can be used for a house. And the liabilities column is where a loan or mortgage against the land is noted, so an entry there is a claim to investigate before you pay. Read together, these columns answer the basic questions a buyer has, who holds it, how much, what kind, and is anything owed on it.

What is the mutation register, and why read it?

The mutation register records how ownership of the land has changed hands, and reading it tells you whether the title has actually been updated to the current seller. Mutation is the process by which the revenue record is changed to reflect a new owner after a sale, an inheritance or a gift, and each such change is captured as an entry, referred to as MR on the Bhoomi portal and identified by a mutation reference number. Checking the mutation entries lets you trace the line of ownership up to the person selling, and confirm that their name did not simply appear but arrived through a recorded transfer the state has accepted. This matters because a registered sale deed on its own transfers the property, but until the mutation follows, the revenue record still shows the earlier owner, and a seller whose purchase was never mutated has a gap between the deed and the record. Reading the mutation chain is how you check that the seller's ownership is not only documented but recognised in the record you will later rely on.

What should I read on the RTC and mutation record?

The table below sets out what to read on these records and why each entry matters.

Each of these is a question you want answered before money changes hands, and the RTC and mutation register answer them from the state's own files rather than the seller's. A record that agrees with the paperwork is reassuring, and one that does not is exactly the early warning the check exists to give. The point is not to become an expert in revenue records, but to read these few fields and treat any mismatch as something to resolve rather than overlook.

Is the RTC proof of ownership?

No, the RTC is a revenue record of possession and holding, not conclusive proof of title, and treating it as the last word is a common mistake. It is strong evidence of what the state records for a parcel, and a clean RTC that matches the seller is a good sign, but ownership of immovable property is established through the chain of title documents, not the revenue record alone. This is why the RTC belongs alongside the other checks rather than in place of them. You still trace the title through the mother deed and the successive sale deeds, still pull the encumbrance certificate to see registered dealings and mortgages, and still confirm the conversion order where the land was agricultural. The RTC is most powerful as a cross check, because a title that looks clean on paper but conflicts with the revenue record, on the owner, the extent or a liability, is a title with a question mark over it. Use the RTC to test the story the documents tell, and rely on the full set of checks, not any single record, to conclude that a site is safe to buy.

How do I verify a site on Bhoomi?

Work through these steps before you commit to a site.

1. Pull the RTC for the exact survey and hissa number on the Bhoomi portal.
2. Confirm the owner column names the person who is selling to you.
3. Check the extent on the RTC matches the area you are being sold.
4. Read the land classification and check whether conversion is needed.
5. Look at the liabilities column for any loan or charge on the land.
6. Read the mutation entries to trace the ownership up to the seller.
7. Pair the RTC with the encumbrance certificate, the mother deed and the conversion order.

How does this fit my other site checks?

Reading the RTC is the revenue side of the same enquiry that the approval and title checks make from other angles. The land classification you read on the RTC is what tells you whether the parcel needs the conversion we cover in our guide to verifying a DC conversion before buying a site, and the whole exercise is central to weighing a site on revenue land, as we set out in our explainer on verifying a BMRDA layout and a revenue plot. For a plotted development such as Merusri Serenova at Rajanukunte, the survey level records sit under the layout, so reading them is part of knowing what you are buying. The RTC, the conversion order and the encumbrance certificate are different views of one parcel, and reading the revenue record is the view most buyers skip and most often should not.

Frequently asked questions

What is an RTC or Pahani in Karnataka? It is the Record of Rights, Tenancy and Crops, the revenue department's official record for a survey number, also called the Pahani. It shows the holder of the land, the extent, the land classification and any liability noted against the parcel. You can pull it for free from the state's Bhoomi land records portal using the survey number.

What should I check on the RTC before buying a site? Check that the owner column names the seller, that the extent matches the area being sold, and that the land classification fits the intended use, since agricultural land needs conversion. Read the liabilities column for any loan, and read the mutation entries to trace how the owner's name reached the record. Treat any mismatch as something to resolve first.

Is the RTC proof that the seller owns the land? No. The RTC is a revenue record, not conclusive proof of title. A clean RTC that matches the seller is a good sign, but ownership is established through the chain of title documents. Use it as a cross check alongside the mother deed, the encumbrance certificate and the conversion order, not as the sole basis for buying.

What is a mutation record on Bhoomi? The mutation record, shown as MR on Bhoomi and identified by a mutation reference number, records how ownership changed through sale, inheritance or gift. Reading the mutation entries tells you whether the title has actually been updated into the current owner's name in the revenue record, not only documented on a deed.

Last updated 2026-08-31. PropNewz Team.