What's Brewing

With the volume of immovable properties being registered across India increasing exponentially, there is now an urgent need for a legislation that meets modern day demands of convenience, reliability and efficiency in the process of property registration and registration of all financial, contractual, legal or social documents. 

It is to meet this urgent need that Department of Land Reforms [DLR], Ministry of Rural Development [Ministry] has released a draft of “The Registration Bill 2025” [Bill]. The Bill is intended to replace the original Registration Act of 1908 [Act] when enacted by parliament.

The core features of the Bill are as follows:

I) Provisions for Online Registration that facilitate following basic activities to henceforth be performed electronically as well as in person:

1. Presentation and Admission of Documents.
2. Authentication of Documents, both through Aadhar Card as well as alternative verification mechanisms.
3. Issuance of Certificates.
4. Maintenance of Records.
5. Integration with other record keeping systems for enhanced flow of information.

II) Expanded Scope of Compulsory Registration that now makes registration mandatory for an extensive range of documents, either in person or electronically. 

Documents to be compulsorily registered online/in person include, but not limited to, the following:

1. Gift Deed of immovable property.
2. Lease of immovable property, where period of lease is 1 year and above.
3. Power-of-Attorney that enables transfer of immovable property, with or without consideration.
4. All Contracts for Sale of Immovable Property, including agreement for sale. 
5. All Contracts for Development or Construction of Property, including developer’s agreement.
6. Mortgage by deposit of a Title Deed.
7. Amalgamation, re-construction, merger and de-merger of companies pursuant to an order issued under Companies Act, 2013.
8. All types of ‘non-testamentary’ instruments that create, restrict or extinguish a right/title/interest in an immovable property, either (i) for a consideration, or (ii) pursuant to a court order.

Note: Testamentary instrument is a document by which a person expresses that his/her property is to be distributed in a manner stipulated by him/her after death. 

Example: A Will. 
Any document not coming under the ‘compulsory’ list can also be registered, optionally.

Copies of following instruments to be filed with concerned Registering Authority for records:

• Order granting a loan under land Improvement Loans Act, 1883.
• Order granting a loan under Agriculturists’ Loans Act, 1884, along with Mortgage instrument created for securing the loan repayment.
• All banks, financial institutions and other creditors granting loans on the basis of mortgage of title deeds should file copies of the title deeds so mortgaged against the loans.

Documents exempted from registration are governmental and testamentary, such as:

• Documents of land revenue settlement issued by, received by or attested by the govt official.
• Documents and Maps of land survey issued, received or authenticated by the govt official. 
• A Will or a Codicil (addition/alteration to Will) and such testamentary documents that take effect only after death of the testator i.e. person making the Will. 

III) Secured and strengthened process of Registration with rules and regulations that make the procedures of not only registration but cancellation or rejection of registration reliable, evidentiary and compliant with law and natural justice.  Some of the salient rules and regulations are as below:

• A document of sale/transfer/title/mortgage of immovable property becomes operational from the time of its registration and shall supersede other documents pertaining to the property. However, documents not requiring compulsory registration become operational right from the time of their execution i.e. the time when the parties affix their signatures.
• All compulsory registration documents should be registered within a time limit of 4 months from the date of their execution. Where the execution is done at different times by different persons, re-registration should be done within 4 months of each execution. Registration after the lapse of     4 months shall be subject to: (i) reasons for delay being unavoidable (ii) approval of application by the Registrar and (iii) payment of a fine not exceeding 10 times the prescribed fee.   
• Documents executed outside India too shall be registered in India within 4 months from date of its execution; beyond 4 months, registration is done subject to the same conditions in b) above.
• Office of Sub-Registrar, in whose sub-district the immovable property or part thereof is located, is the appropriate place for submitting the document for registration, manually or electronically.
• Registrar has discretionary power to directly receive and register the document in his/her office.
• Under special circumstances, Sub-Registrar or Registrar can receive the document at the residence of the person(s) for due registration.
• Persons presenting the document for registration shall either be the concerned parties themselves or their assignee/agent duly authorised  by a power-of-attorney.
• Persons presenting the documents shall authenticate their bona fide through any identity document prescribed, such as Aadhar Card, either manually or through biometric device. They should also provide their signatures (physical or digital) and colour photographs (hard copy or digital).
• Aadhar Card is not the sole identity document for registration; identity can be authenticated by other government documents too, such as: passport, driving license, ration card, voter id, etc.
• Registering authority is empowered to physically examine any person mentioned in the document, in order to satisfy himself with regard to the person’s bonafide identity.  
• Exemption from personal appearance is given to persons (i) with physical disabilities (ii) in jail (iii) exemption given by court and (iv) government officials and holders of public office.
• Templates/Formats for registration of documents can be notified by the registering authority, though other formats are also acceptable.  
• If a document is submitted in a language not understood by the registering authority, it shall be accompanied by a true translation in the local language.
• Registering authority can refuse to register a document if person concerned (i) denies its execution (ii) is a minor (iii) is not of sound mind (iv) is dead and his assignee denies its execution.
• Other reasons for refusal of registration include (i) 4-month period from date of execution has lapsed (ii) erasures/alterations done without attestation (iii) translation not provided for the matter written in non-local language (iv) insufficient description of the property (v) property is owned by government (vi) property is attached by government or is under dispute in a court of law.
• Appeals against refusal of registration by Sub-Registrar are to be made with Registrar, within 30 days of refusal; Appeals against refusal by Registrar can be made only in a civil court.                                  

IV) Strengthened Organizational Structure and streamlined Appointments process that make the institutional hierarchy more robust and responsive to cater to the ever growing needs of the public. 

• Inspector General of Registration [IGR] to be appointed by state govt – alternatively, officers to be vested with his powers and duties – for general superintendence over all registering offices in the state. State can also appoint Additional/Joint/Assistant IGRs for ease of administration.  
• Districts and sub-districts will be notified by state govt with clearly defined jurisdictional limits.
• Registrar is responsible for registrations within his/her district; he is monitored by IGR.
• Sub-Registrar handles registrations in his/her sub-district; he is controlled by district Registrar. 
• IGR can appoint Registrars and Sub-Registrars in the event of temporary/permanent vacancies, duly reporting such appointments to state govt.

V) Simplified Registration process made accessible and citizen-centric by promoting plain language texts and by adopting digital technology for greater transparency and authenticity.

• Every registering office will be equipped with (i) ‘Books’, both paper bound and digital type, that contain all information relevant to all the registrations done and serve as a database of the same. (ii) Infrastructure, including computer hardware, to facilitate electronic online registration (iii) Software systems like Cloud essential to make storage and retrieval of the books/database protected from fire, pilferage and other risks, damages and losses (iii) Separate books to be maintained for testamentary, non-testamentary and governmental documents and maps/drawings.
• Govt to notify and display structure of fees payable for various activities such as: registration, searches, inspection, duplication, safe custody and return, etc of registered documents.
• Penalty is applicable to any officer and staff of any registering office for indulging in deliberately registering, copying, endorsing or translating a document incorrectly so as to cause to any person ‘injury’ as defined in Section 2(14) of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita [BNS] i.e. injury caused can be physical, reputational or property related. Penalty includes 3-year prison term or a fine or both.
• IGR, Registrar or Sub-Registrar may initiate prosecution of such offences by their sub-ordinates. Such prosecution can be prone to trial in a 2nd Class Magistrate court of law.
• An officer holding any position in any registering office will be deemed to be a ‘public servant’ as defined in Section 2(28) of BNS.
• Officers of any registering office cannot be prosecuted or legally proceeded against for anything done or intended to be done by them in good faith under provisions of this Act.
• All registration offices must maintain following books with such details as set out in Schedule I:   Book 1 – Register of non-testamentary documents relating to immovable property.
  Book 2 – Records of reasons for refusal to register to be known as Book 2.
  Book 3 – Register of wills and authorities to adopt.
  Book 4 – Miscellaneous Register.
  Book 5 – Register of deposit of wills.
•  Barring Wills, all other registered documents remaining unclaimed for a period of 2 years in any registering office can be removed from the books/database and destroyed. 
• Central government is empowered to notify, amend or alter any section of this Act. 

The key benefits of this Bill:-

1. Registration process is simplified in that it can be done from the comfort of home.
2. Need for brokers is eliminated, thereby saving time and money.
3. Transparency in land records is enhanced, thereby minimizing chances of fraud.
4. Responsibility and Accountability of registering officers is enhanced and clearly defined, thereby making the registration process more secure and reliable.

The government urged the general public to send their comments and suggestions which were done by June 2025.  After due consideration, the government is expected to release the final draft of the Bill.  

For full text of the Registration Bill 2025: 
https://cdnbbsr.s3waas.gov.in/s3d69116f8b0140cdeb1f99a4d5096ffe4/uploads/2025/05/20250526906486876.pdf