Land Record Modernisation

Digital India Land Records Modernization Programme (DILRM) was started in 2008, to computerized land property registration process and digitalization of all land records in India.

For access to formal loans and government relief programs, land records are important. However, the poor availability of clear and updated land titles remains a problem.

The objective of land record modernisation is to improve the quality of land records and make them more accessible and move towards the guaranteed land titles (a document which determines the land ownership).

The land is both an asset and a source of livelihood for poor people in rural areas. Many informal jobs in the urban areas were lost due to the coronavirus pandemic in 2020. This resulted in reverse migration, leading to greater demands for household resources in rural areas.

Furthermore, land is a state subject and land rights are a complex bundle of rights. Unlocking this unproductive asset has many layers.

Land Record Modernisation: Challenges

Related to land titles:

• System of registered sale deeds – allow only the registration of transaction not the title as per the Transfer of property Act 1882 and Registration Act 1908.
• Data discrepancies – Since the land documentation data is maintained by different government department, they are not updated often.
• High cost of Property Registration – People avoid registration to avoid payment for stamp duty.
• Registration Act, 1908– Do not provide for mandatory registration such as transaction of acquisition of land by government and land on lease for less than a year.
• The poor state of land records is due to the failure of the Indian administration to evolve from British-era land policies.

Related to process of document registration:

• The process of document registration of land has not yet been digitized and it relies on the outdated physical mode of registration.
• In India, most property documents must compulsorily be registered under the colonial Registration Act, 1908, failing which they cannot be admitted in court (in case of a dispute) as evidence.
• Most states still require participants to present physically at the sub-registrar’s office to produce physical copies of papers and fulfil the offline criteria to acquire physical registration certificates
• As a result, registering documents at the sub-registrar’s office is a time-consuming process, taking two days or more just for submitting the paperwork.

Related to pendency of land dispute cases:

• As per “Access to Justice Survey” by Daksh, the GDP loss to the country’s economy is about 1.3% due to projects being stalled over litigation involving land disputes.
• 66% of all civil suits in India are related to land or property disputes, and the average pendency of a land acquisition dispute is 20 years.
• According to the NIPFP Working Paper from August 2021 such litigation constitutes the majority of a court’s workload. But it has not been sufficiently proved that most of it is rooted in land-titling issues.
• 17% of all disputes at the Delhi High Court are related to immovable property. In these cases, the largest proportion of litigation is between private parties.
• The Union government is the petitioner in 2% of such litigation but is the respondent in more than 18% of cases.
• Tenancy disputes are the most common type of litigation, closely followed by land acquisition related matters.
• Disputes related to property records are 13.6% of immovable property litigation.

Challenges pointed out by N-LRSI (NCAER Land Records and Services Index) study:

• Lack of skilled manpower in the departments of land records. It is one of the major barriers in ensuring regular updating of land records.
• Poor cooperation across land record departments:
  • Revenue department as the custodian of textual records.
  • Survey and settlement department managing the spatial records.
  • Registration department is responsible for registering land transactions.
• No state/UT has the facility for online modification of records on the same day as the registration.

Land Record Modernisation: Way ahead

• Amendments to be done in the Registration Act, 1908 :
  • Allow online submission of documents and remote online appearance of parties and witnesses
  • Provision for the electronic verification of parties
  • Allowing online exchanges of queries between parties and the registrar
  • Allowing registrars to issue electronic registration certificates and maintain a digital backup of such records.

• Creation of an integrated land registry for the country.
• Establish minimum standards for remote online registration to ensure that registration throughout India is undertaken in a safe and secure manner.
• Further legal initiatives, such as remote notarization and clarity on electronic instrument stamping.
• Document registration is a basic legal requirement. Modernising this procedure will be a significant step towards the realisation of Digital India’s Vision of presence-less, paper-less services.
• The easing of the land transactions can also be tried for improvement in land records. For example, Maharashtra lowering stamp duties to meet its increasing demand for housing, infrastructure.
• Strengthening of various institutions concerned with land records.This can be attained by removing structural rigidities in the system.