Karnataka govt revamps RTCs, promises greater land ownership certainty

Karnataka govt revamps RTCs, promises greater land ownership certainty

Mangalore Today News Network

Bengaluru, Sep 16, 2026: Karnataka is set to revamp the Record of Rights, Tenancy and Crops (RTC), also known as Pahani, into a digitally integrated, Aadhaar-linked and spatially verifiable land document aimed at providing greater clarity on land ownership.

At least 20 lakh redesigned RTCs are expected to be issued over the next couple of months, Additional Chief Secretary (Revenue) Rajender Kumar Kataria said.

The RTC is a key land record containing details such as the owner’s name, extent of the property, soil type, nature of possession, encumbrances and crops grown.

Under a recent government order, the redesigned RTCs will include Aadhaar-seeded details of landholders integrated with geo-referenced cadastral or survey maps. They will also be interoperable with other government databases and digital platforms.

“Our motto is to move from ‘record’ to ‘right’,” Kataria said. He explained that merely having a person’s name in the RTC does not by itself establish absolute ownership. The government will cross-check landholder details with Aadhaar and databases such as Kutumba (Family ID) and FRUITS (Farmer Registration and Unified Beneficiary Information System).

The Aadhaar linkage will also enable the inclusion of the landholder’s photograph and address. According to the government order, these details will help strengthen the identification and verification of recorded holders and improve the transparency and accuracy of land records.

The government has also digitised the Akarband, which records the extent of a land parcel, and plans to integrate it with the RTC. Kataria said this would help address discrepancies between the extent recorded in land records and the actual mapped area.

The revised RTCs will include geo-referenced maps, Open Location Codes and QR codes. The QR codes will provide access to verifiable information used in preparing the document, including encumbrance details.

Kataria said the redesigned RTC is ready for single-owner properties. For properties with multiple owners, the new RTC will be issued when they approach the authorities for various land-related services.