Khata types: A-khata, B-khata, e-Aasthi and e-Swathu

What a khata is

A khata records a property in the local body’s register: the owner’s name, the property number, its size and use, and the property tax due. Banks, the sub-registrar and the local body all ask for it. It does not prove ownership on its own: ownership comes from the registered deeds.

A-khata and B-khata

• A-khata is the usual khata for a property that meets the rules, such as a plot on converted land in an approved layout.
• B-khata records a property that does not meet the rules, such as a plot in an unapproved layout, so that property tax can be collected from it. The state has said B-khata owners can pay tax and sell, but a B-khata does not mean that the layout or the building is approved.

Some banks hesitate to lend against a B-khata property, so ask your bank before you commit.

Towns and cities: e-Aasthi

Outside Bengaluru, towns and cities keep their property register in an online system called e-Aasthi. In the twin cities, the khata comes from the Hubballi-Dharwad Municipal Corporation (HDMC). After a change in the law, towns and cities began issuing B-khatas in February 2025 to unauthorised properties registered before 10 September 2024, and the drive was extended by three months in May 2025.

Villages: e-Swathu

In gram panchayat areas, property records are kept in e-Swathu. A property that meets the rules gets a Form 9 or Form 11A extract, often called an A-khata. A property that does not is recorded in Form 11B, often called a B-khata. The state amended its panchayat law in 2025 to bring such properties into the register, said it would issue rural B-khatas from July 2025, and launched e-Swathu 2.0 in December 2025.

From B-khata to A-khata (2026)

On 9 September 2026 the Revenue Department issued order RD-LGP/38/2026 under section 96(4) of the Karnataka Land Revenue Act, 1964, as amended that month. It lets local body officers collect the conversion charges, regularisation fee and penalties needed to give an A-khata to eligible B-khata properties.

• Who decides: the Chief Officer of a town municipal council or town panchayat, the Commissioner of a city municipal council, the Zonal Commissioner of a municipal corporation such as HDMC, and the Panchayat Development Officer of a gram panchayat.
• Which plots: up to 1,000 square metres, already in non-agricultural use, where the master plan or zoning rules allow that use.
• Cut-off dates: in towns and cities, a B-khata issued on or before 10 September 2024, or a property that existed by then and qualified for one; in villages, a B-khata recorded on or before 7 April 2025, or a sale deed registered before that date.
• Left out: government, gomala, forest, tank, rajakaluve, road and public-purpose land; land under acquisition or a court stay; and property that breaks the master plan.
• How long: the officers’ powers under the order run until 31 December 2027. The charges are worked out by the system; the order does not print the rates.

Before you buy a B-khata plot, ask whether it qualifies, what the charges would be and who will pay them. Bengaluru follows separate rules under the Greater Bengaluru Authority; this guide covers the rest of Karnataka.

What to check

• Ask for the latest khata extract and tax receipts, and check the owner’s name, the property number and the size against the deed.
• Ask whether it is an A-khata or a B-khata, and why.
• Check the khata yourself with HDMC or the gram panchayat, not only from a copy.
• If it is a B-khata, ask your advocate and your bank before you pay an advance.