Property Mutation (Dakhil-Kharij) in Delhi

What is dakhil-kharij (property mutation) in Delhi?

Property mutation in Delhi, known locally as dakhil-kharij or intiqal, is the entry that removes the previous owner's name from the government record for a piece of land or property and puts yours in its place. The Department of Revenue, Government of NCT of Delhi owns the process. Its own site lists land records management and mutation (dakhil kharij) processing among the department's core services, alongside property registration and non-encumbrance certificates.

Delhi is administered through 13 revenue districts, each headed by a Deputy Commissioner. Below the Deputy Commissioner sit the Sub-Divisional Magistrates, the Tehsildars and the sub-registrars. The Department of Revenue publishes directories of district offices, SDMs, Tehsildars and sub-registrars on revenue.delhi.gov.in, which is how you find the office that holds your file.

Delhi differs from most states in one important way: there are effectively two mutation records, and which one you need depends on what you bought.

• Revenue record mutation, for land in Delhi's rural and agricultural revenue estates, recorded in the khatauni / Record of Rights and maintained by the Tehsildar. Delhi's e-District portal carries an "Issuance of Record of Rights (ROR) through DLRC" service, DLRC being the department's land-records system.
• Municipal record mutation, for a built house, flat or shop, the name in the property-tax record of the municipal corporation has to be changed. This is a separate application to the corporation, not to the Tehsildar.

Buyers of DDA flats and of leasehold properties often have a third step as well, because the lessor's own record (DDA or the Land and Development Office) has to reflect the transfer. None of these substitute for one another.

Who can and cannot apply for mutation in Delhi?

You can apply if you are:

• A buyer under a registered sale deed
• A legal heir of a deceased recorded owner, applying for an inheritance mutation
• A donee under a registered gift deed
• A person holding a registered relinquishment deed or partition deed among co-owners
• A person holding a decree of a competent court transferring the property

You cannot apply, or the application will not succeed, in these situations:

• On an agreement to sell, a general power of attorney or a will alone without the underlying registered transfer or a succession order. GPA-based transfers are a long-standing Delhi problem and revenue offices do not treat them as ownership.
• Where the property is government land, or land under acquisition, and not privately transferable.
• Where the transfer is stayed by a court, or a title suit or partition suit is pending on the same property.
• Where heirs disagree in an inheritance case. The Tehsildar decides mutation, not title; a contested succession goes to a civil court or requires a succession certificate.
• Where you want a spelling or area correction rather than a change of ownership. That is a record-correction request, not a mutation.

How to apply for property mutation in Delhi: step by step

1. Complete registration first. Get the sale, gift, relinquishment or partition deed registered at the sub-registrar's office of the concerned revenue district. Delhi's sub-registrars are listed in the directory on revenue.delhi.gov.in. Mutation is the step after registration, not a substitute for it.
2. Work out which record you need changed. Agricultural or rural land goes to the Tehsildar for a revenue mutation. A built house or flat goes to the municipal corporation for a property-tax mutation. Many buyers in Delhi need both, plus a transfer entry with DDA or L&DO if the property is leasehold.
3. Pull the current record. For revenue land, obtain the existing Record of Rights through the "Issuance of Record of Rights (ROR) through DLRC" service on edistrict.delhigovt.nic.in, so that the khasra, khatauni and area in your application match the record exactly.
4. Register on the Delhi e-District portal. Go to edistrict.delhigovt.nic.in, create a citizen account, and open the Revenue Department services. The portal's four core functions are apply, track, verify and download or print.
5. Fill the mutation application and upload documents. Enter the property details as they appear in the record, attach the registered deed, your identity proof, the existing ROR, and, for an inheritance case, the death certificate together with the heirship proof, affidavit and indemnity bond.
6. Note the application number. Every later step, including tracking and any query raised by the office, is keyed to that number.
7. Attend the Tehsildar's office if notice is issued. Mutation in Delhi is preceded by notice to the affected parties. If the Tehsildar or the Kanungo calls the parties, attend on the date with the original deed and identity proof.
8. Collect the sanctioned entry and verify it. After the order, pull a fresh Record of Rights (or a fresh property-tax record for a municipal mutation) and confirm your name, the khasra number and the area are correct. An unchecked mutation with a wrong area is harder to fix later than to catch now.

How do I check my Delhi mutation status?

Use the Track Application option on edistrict.delhigovt.nic.in with your application number; the same portal also lets you verify and download or print a certificate once issued. Delhi's e-District site separately publishes timelines, designated officials and eligibility criteria and guidelines for its services, which is the right place to check what the department has committed to for the service you filed. For a file lodged at a counter, approach the Tehsildar of that revenue district; the district and SDM directories on revenue.delhi.gov.in identify the officer.

Why do mutation applications get rejected in Delhi?

• The khasra number, khatauni entry or area in the application does not match the existing record.
• The transfer rests on a general power of attorney, an agreement to sell or an unregistered paper rather than a registered deed.
• Property tax or land revenue dues are outstanding against the property.
• An inheritance case is filed without the death certificate, without an affidavit listing all heirs, or with an heir left out — and a left-out heir objects.
• The property is under a court stay or a pending title dispute.
• The applicant applied to the wrong office, to the Tehsildar for a flat whose record sits with the municipal corporation, or the reverse.
• Uploaded scans are unreadable or incomplete.

Fees, agents and where to complain

Apply directly on edistrict.delhigovt.nic.in or at the Tehsildar's or corporation's own counter, and pay only the fee the official portal or counter itself charges and receipts. Delhi's Department of Revenue works from 5, Sham Nath Marg, Civil Lines, Delhi-110054, and the e-District portal lists office hours of 09:30 AM to 06:00 PM.

Do not pay a middleman to "get the mutation passed." Dakhil-kharij is decided on documents, a registered deed or a proven succession, and no agent can create either. If your case stalls, escalate inside the same district: the Tehsildar first, then the Sub-Divisional Magistrate, then the Deputy Commissioner of the revenue district, all of whom are named in the directories on revenue.delhi.gov.in. Where a service has a published timeline on the e-District portal, a delay beyond it is itself a ground for a written grievance.