Property mutation in Karnataka: auto-mutation after registration, and how to check it

When a sale deed is registered, the buyer becomes the owner. But the government's own record of who holds the property — and who is liable to pay tax on it — does not change at the moment of registration. Updating that record is a separate step called mutation. In Karnataka, mutation means two different things depending on the land: on revenue (agricultural and converted) land it is the change in the RTC through the Bhoomi mutation register; in municipal limits it is the khata transfer, now the e-Khata, in the urban property record. The state has been moving both toward auto-mutation, where a registered transaction triggers the record update automatically instead of requiring a fresh application. This guide explains what mutation is, what auto-mutation does and does not do, how to check whether a record has actually been updated, and why mutation is never a substitute for title.

Registration transfers title; mutation updates the record

These are two distinct events, and confusing them is the single most common mistake a first-time buyer makes. Registration of a sale deed at the sub-registrar's office, under the Registration Act, is the legal act that transfers title from seller to buyer. Mutation is the administrative act that updates the government's holding-and-tax record to reflect that transfer — so that future tax demands, RTC entries and khata extracts name the new owner rather than the old one.

A property can be validly registered in a buyer's name while the revenue or municipal record still shows the seller. That gap is exactly the risk: an un-mutated record after a purchase means the state still treats the previous holder as the person of record. Tax notices keep going to the seller, the RTC or khata still reads the old name, and any later check by a bank, a sub-registrar or a future buyer surfaces a name that does not match the latest sale deed — a discrepancy that has to be explained before the next transaction can move.

The two kinds of mutation in Karnataka

Which record gets mutated depends on what the land is and where it sits, and a buyer should know which one applies to the property in question:

• Revenue-land mutation (RTC / Mutation Register) — for agricultural and converted land outside municipal limits, mutation updates the RTC (the pahani) through the Bhoomi system. Each change of holder by sale, inheritance, partition or grant is recorded as a Mutation Register (MR) entry, and the sequence of MR numbers is the revenue-side chain of custody. See PropWatch's RTC (pahani) guide linked below for how to read it.
• Urban khata mutation (khata transfer / e-Khata) — for property within Bengaluru's civic limits, mutation means transferring the khata into the new owner's name. The khata is the municipal property-tax account, now issued digitally as the e-Khata through the Greater Bengaluru Authority's e-Aasthi system. A khata transfer changes who is recorded as liable to pay property tax; it does not regularise an unauthorised property or convert a B-Khata into an A-Khata. See PropWatch's e-Khata guide linked below.

The two records are not interchangeable. On a converted site on the city periphery, the revenue RTC history and the municipal khata can both exist and can disagree — which is why mutation has to be checked on whichever record actually governs the parcel, not assumed from the other.

What auto-mutation changed

Historically a buyer had to file a separate mutation application after registration — at the village accountant or Nadakacheri for revenue land, or at the municipal office for the khata — and wait, often for months, for the record to catch up. Karnataka has been linking the registration system to the land-record databases so that a registered transaction can trigger the mutation automatically, without a fresh application.

On revenue land, the Revenue Department introduced auto-mutation in the Bhoomi system, beginning as a pilot in Ramanagara district in March 2024, so that eligible registered transactions flow through to a mutation entry rather than requiring a manual application. The Revenue Department's own documentation is explicit that auto-mutation is not blanket: whether a transaction mutates automatically depends on the transaction type and the system it originates from, and several categories — including certain court orders and dispute entries — are excluded and still need the older process. On the urban side, registration in Bengaluru has been linked to e-Khata since 2024, and the e-Aasthi system carries the khata-mutation workflow online.

How to check whether mutation has happened

After registering a purchase, a buyer should confirm the record was actually updated rather than assume auto-mutation did its job. Use the official portals, not third-party lookalike sites.

1. Identify which record applies — revenue land uses the RTC and Mutation Register on Bhoomi; property inside Bengaluru's civic limits uses the e-Khata on the e-Aasthi portal.
2. For revenue land, open the Karnataka land-records portal at landrecords.karnataka.gov.in, use the 'View RTC and MR' service, and select District, Taluk, Hobli, Village and the Survey Number, Surnoc and Hissa for the exact parcel.
3. Read the latest RTC to confirm the holder's name now matches the buyer, and pull the corresponding Mutation Register (MR) extract to see the entry recording the transfer; many portals also surface a mutation-status view (Pending, Under Review, Accepted, Rejected).
4. For urban property, open the GBA e-Aasthi portal at bbmpeaasthi.karnataka.gov.in, search by e-PID, application or owner details, and confirm the e-Khata names the new owner.
5. If an application is pending, track its mutation or khata-transfer status on the same portal until the entry reaches a final, approved state — a pending entry is not a completed mutation.
6. Where the record still shows the seller after a reasonable period, raise the mutation with the jurisdictional revenue or municipal office, quoting the registered sale deed's details, rather than waiting indefinitely for an automatic update.

What to watch — a mutation verification checklist

Mutation is both a step to complete after buying and a thing to verify before buying, because the previous owner's mutation history tells a buyer whether the seller's own record is clean:

• Confirm the holder of record matches the seller — before buying, the latest RTC or e-Khata should already name the person selling. A record still in a predecessor's name means the seller's own mutation was never completed, and that has to be resolved first.
• Trace the mutation chain, not just the latest entry — each MR number on revenue land should account for one transfer, with no unexplained jump. A missing partition consent or an undocumented inheritance is a recurring source of later litigation.
• Do not treat mutation as title — a clean mutation entry sitting on a defective sale deed, a missing DC conversion order or an encumbered property is still defective. Read mutation alongside the registered deed and the encumbrance certificate.
• After your own purchase, verify the update — do not assume auto-mutation completed. Pull the record after registration and confirm your name appears, and that any notice period has closed.
• Watch for B-Khata and revenue-site traps — an urban khata mutation does not cure an unauthorised property or a revenue site; the underlying status survives the record update.
• Have a property advocate examine the mutation chain together with the title deeds, conversion order and encumbrance certificate before any payment — the online record does not replace that examination.

SourceRevenue Department, Government of Karnataka — Bhoomi land records portal (View RTC and MR, mutation services)

SourceCommissionerate of Survey, Settlement and Land Records, Government of Karnataka — Auto-Mutation in Bhoomi (eligible transaction types and exclusions)

SourceGreater Bengaluru Authority — e-Aasthi (e-Khata) portal for urban property records and khata mutation

SourcePropWatch — RTC (pahani) in Karnataka: how to view and verify a land record online on Bhoomi

SourcePropWatch — e-Khata in Bangalore: what it is, how to apply, check your status and charges

SourcePropWatch — Sale deed vs conveyance deed: what each document does