A Khata, B Khata and e-Khata: which one do you have?
A Khata means the municipal record shows the property as compliant. B Khata means it is taxed but not regularised. e-Khata is the digital record behind both.
A Khata means the municipality records your property as compliant with its approvals. B Khata means it collects tax from you without certifying that. e-Khata is the digital record both now run through, mandatory for Bengaluru property transactions since October 2024. None of the three says anything about whether your title is good.
Khata is the most-discussed and least-understood document in Bengaluru property. Start with what it is for.
What a khata actually is
A khata is a municipal account. It records that a property exists, who is liable for tax on it, and what the municipality’s assessment of it is. That is the whole function.
It is not a title document. It does not prove ownership. It is issued by the municipality — BBMP within city limits — not the Registration Department, and the two bodies are answering completely different questions.
The reason it dominates every Bengaluru conversation is not legal, it is financial. Lenders use khata class as a shorthand for whether a property is regularised, and that turns a municipal record into the thing that decides whether your buyer can get a loan.
A versus B
A Khata means the property sits on the municipal register as compliant — the layout was approved, the building matches what was sanctioned, and the approvals are in place. It can be transferred, mortgaged and extended through the normal route, and lenders treat it as ordinary security.
B Khata is a separate register. The municipality records the property for tax purposes but has not certified it as compliant. The usual causes are a deviation from the sanctioned plan, construction on land whose conversion was never completed, or a layout that was never approved.
The consequences are practical rather than dramatic. You can hold a B Khata property. You can sell it and register the sale. What you cannot easily do is find a buyer who needs a mainstream home loan, because most lenders will not fund it. That alone moves the price.
What e-Khata changed
Karnataka made e-Khata mandatory for Bengaluru property transactions from October 2024. The record moved from a paper certificate to a digital entry in the e-Aasthi system, tied to Aadhaar-based eKYC of the parties.
For a clean-title property this is a genuine improvement: where both sides complete eKYC, mutation after registration is processed largely automatically rather than depending on a manual municipal step.
Where it has hurt is properties whose records were already messy. A digital system will not accept the ambiguity a paper file tolerated, and the transition has stalled a large number of transactions that would previously have limped through. If you are selling, the state of your e-Khata is now the thing most likely to hold up completion — see khata transfer after buying a flat for what the process looks like from the other side.
The check to actually run
Ask for the current e-Khata extract, pulled fresh from e-Aasthi, not a scan of an old paper certificate. Confirm the property description on it matches the sale deed — survey number, extent, boundaries. Confirm the tax position is current, because outstanding dues will block the transfer.
Then put the khata down and go and verify the title, which is an entirely separate exercise and the one that actually decides whether you own the place. Khata class tells you how easy the property will be to finance and resell. It does not tell you whether it is yours.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between A Khata and B Khata?
A Khata means the property is recorded as fully compliant with municipal approvals and can be transferred, mortgaged and built on normally. B Khata means the municipality collects tax on the property but has not certified it as compliant, usually because of a deviation from the sanctioned plan or a missing approval.
What is e-Khata in Bengaluru?
e-Khata is the digital khata record issued through the e-Aasthi system. Karnataka made it mandatory for property transactions in Bengaluru from October 2024, so registration and mutation now run through the digital record rather than a paper certificate.
Can you sell a B Khata property?
Yes, a B Khata property can be sold and the sale registered. The practical difficulty is on the buyer's side — most mainstream lenders will not fund a B Khata purchase, which shrinks the pool of buyers who can transact without full cash.
Does A Khata mean the title is clear?
No. Khata is a municipal record about tax liability and plan compliance. It says nothing about who owns the property or whether the title chain is sound. A property can hold an A Khata and still have a defective title.