Property Mutation (Khata Change / MR) in Karnataka

What is khata change (mutation) in Karnataka?

Mutation of agricultural land in Karnataka is called khata change, and the entry that records it is the Mutation Register, written as MR. The Revenue Department, Government of Karnataka runs the process on the Bhoomi land-records system at landrecords.karnataka.gov.in, which holds the RTC (Record of Rights, Tenancy and Crops, commonly called the Pahani) for every survey number in the state.

Two Bhoomi services matter to anyone doing a mutation:

• View RTC and MR, shows current and previous-year RTC records together with the mutation entries, and carries a mutation status option where you enter district, taluk, hobli and survey number to see where a case stands.
• Bhoomi online mutation services; described on the portal in plain terms: citizen can apply for khata change online.

The RTC is the operative document. It names the holder, the survey and hissa number, the extent, the kind of land and the crop details. The MR is the audit trail behind the RTC: it says whether the present holder came in by sale, gift, inheritance, partition or a court order. Banks, sub-registrars and government departments read the RTC; disputes are argued on the MR.

Karnataka issues a digitally signed i-RTC from the Bhoomi portal for Rs 15, and that signed copy: not a screenshot; is what offices accept.

Who can and cannot apply for mutation in Karnataka?

You can apply if you are:

• A buyer of agricultural land under a registered sale deed
• A legal heir of a deceased recorded holder, applying for a varasu (inheritance) mutation
• A donee under a registered gift deed
• A co-sharer recording a registered partition
• A person holding a decree or a competent revenue or court order affecting the land

You cannot apply, or the khata change will not go through on Bhoomi, in these cases:

• On an agreement to sell, a power of attorney or an unregistered document. Karnataka's revenue offices mutate on registered instruments and on succession.
• Where the land is government land, gomala, inam or otherwise not privately transferable, or where a grant carries a non-alienation condition that has not expired.
• Where the transfer breaches a restriction under Karnataka's land-reform law, including restrictions on transfer of granted land to non-scheduled-caste and non-scheduled-tribe purchasers.
• Where a court stay, an injunction or a pending title suit covers the same survey number.
• Where the property is a city site, flat or building whose khata sits with a municipality or corporation. That is a municipal khata transfer, not a Bhoomi mutation.
• Where you only need a name spelling, extent or classification correction with no change of holder. That is a record-correction request.

How to apply for khata change (mutation) in Karnataka: step by step

1. Register the deed. Get the sale, gift or partition deed registered. Karnataka's registration system passes the transaction on to the revenue side, but the citizen is still expected to follow the khata change through to certification.
2. Pull the current RTC from Bhoomi. Open landrecords.karnataka.gov.in, use View RTC and MR, and note the district, taluk, hobli, village, survey number, hissa number and extent exactly as recorded. Every later mismatch starts here.
3. Apply for khata change online on Bhoomi. Use the portal's online mutation service — Bhoomi states that a citizen can apply for khata change online, and enter the transfer details, the parties, and the survey and hissa numbers.
4. Upload the supporting documents. The registered deed, the current RTC, the applicant's Aadhaar and mobile number, and for an inheritance case the death certificate and the family tree or genealogy certificate showing every legal heir.
5. Or file at the Nadakacheri / taluk counter instead. The Nadakacheri (Atalji Janasnehi Kendra) is the Revenue Department's hobli-level citizen counter and the standard offline route; the genealogy certificate that inheritance mutations need is itself a Nadakacheri service.
6. Note the application number and track it. Use View RTC and MR → mutation status on Bhoomi with your district, taluk, hobli and survey number to see the stage of the case.
7. Respond to the notice. Mutation in Karnataka is notified to interested parties before it is certified. If the village accountant or the revenue officer calls the parties, attend with originals; an unanswered notice is a common cause of delay.
8. Download a fresh i-RTC after certification. Once the MR is certified, take a digitally signed i-RTC for Rs 15 from Bhoomi and check the name, survey number and extent. That copy is your proof that the khata change is complete.

How do I check my Karnataka mutation status?

Bhoomi's View RTC and MR service is the single place to check. Select the mutation status option, enter district, taluk, hobli and survey number, and fetch the details. Because Bhoomi keeps current and previous-year RTCs, you can also see the record as it stood before the transaction, useful when the buyer and the seller disagree about the extent or the classification.

Why do khata change applications get rejected in Karnataka?

• The survey number, hissa number or extent in the application does not match the RTC.
• The seller himself was never mutated, so the RTC still stands in an older holder's name and the chain is broken.
• The land is granted land under a non-alienation condition, or otherwise restricted from transfer.
• An inheritance case is filed without the death certificate or without a genealogy certificate covering all heirs, and a left-out heir objects.
• A court stay or a pending suit covers the survey number.
• The applicant went to Bhoomi for a municipal property, whose khata belongs to the city corporation instead.
• Scanned uploads are illegible, or the RTC attached is stale.

Does a Karnataka mutation expire or need renewal?

No. A certified khata change has no validity period and no renewal. The RTC carries your name until the next transfer. The practical follow-up is to keep paying land revenue in your own name and to download a fresh i-RTC whenever a bank, a court, a subsidy scheme or a sub-registrar asks for current proof; Bhoomi charges Rs 15 for that signed copy.

Fees, middlemen and where to complain

Apply on landrecords.karnataka.gov.in yourself, or at the Nadakacheri counter, and pay only the amount the portal or the counter itself charges and receipts; Bhoomi's own published charge for a digitally signed i-RTC is Rs 15. Karnataka built Bhoomi and the Nadakacheri network precisely so that land records could be obtained without going through an intermediary.

Do not pay an agent to "get the MR certified." A khata change turns on a registered deed or a proven succession, and no middleman can supply either. If your case is stuck, the Revenue Department's Bhoomi Monitoring Cell at the SSLR Building, K.R. Circle, Bangalore-560001, takes complaints on 080-22113255, and also publishes 8277864065, 8277864067 and 8277864068 and the email bhoomi@karnataka.gov.in. Beyond the cell, escalate within the taluk to the Tahsildar and then to the Assistant Commissioner and the Deputy Commissioner of the district.