Land Record Extract in Puducherry (Patta and R.S. Number Search on Nilamagal)

What is a land record extract in Puducherry?

A land record extract in Puducherry is the government's written statement of who holds a patta over a particular R.S. (Revenue Survey) number, the plot identifier used in the Union Territory's survey and settlement records. Puducherry follows the Tamil-Nadu-style patta and survey number system rather than the Bhulekh or Jamabandi vocabulary used in north India, so the document people ask for locally is a "patta copy" or a "survey record", not a 7/12 or an RTC.

The Directorate of Survey and Land Records, working under the Department of Revenue and Disaster Management, Government of Puducherry, maintains these records. The Revenue Department's own website links to two public tools, both hosted by National Informatics Centre, Puducherry:

• Nilamagal. The land records search at nilamagal.py.gov.in/public
• G.L.R. Value, the Guide Line Register value search at nilamagal.py.gov.in/glr

Nilamagal is genuinely searchable online by any member of the public. There is no login wall, no registration and no payment gateway on the public search screen.

Which areas of Puducherry does Nilamagal cover?

Nilamagal's first dropdown asks you to choose one of four regions: Puducherry, Karaikal, Mahe and Yanam. That list matches the Union Territory's actual geography; Puducherry and Karaikal lie on the Tamil Nadu coast, Mahe is an enclave inside Kerala and Yanam is an enclave inside Andhra Pradesh. After the region, the portal narrows to taluk and then to village or town.

This region-taluk-village chain matters in practice. Survey numbers are unique only inside a village, so "R.S. No. 42" exists many times over across the four regions. Selecting the wrong village is the single most common reason a Puducherry land search returns either nothing at all or somebody else's land.

Who can apply for a Puducherry land record?

Anyone can search the Nilamagal public portal. Land ownership records are public information in Puducherry, so a prospective buyer, a bank, an advocate doing title diligence or a neighbour checking a boundary can all run a search without proving any interest in the property.

Who cannot apply; or more precisely, what you cannot do from the public screen:

• You cannot change anything. Nilamagal is read-only; adding a name, splitting a survey number or correcting a spelling is a Revenue Department action.
• You cannot get a signed certified copy online. The portal's output is an information copy without a signature or seal.
• You cannot search by owner name alone. The portal indexes by Patta Number and R.S. Number, so a person with no document reference has to first trace the number through the Taluk Office or an old tax receipt.
• Land in Mahe or Yanam that has never been brought onto the survey rolls, and poramboke or government land, will not show a private patta holder.

For a patta transfer after purchase or inheritance, the applicant must be the registered buyer or the legal heir, a third party cannot apply for someone else's mutation.

What documents do I need?

For a plain online search, you need only two things: the Patta Number or R.S. Number, and the region, taluk and village. Nothing else.

For a certified copy from the Taluk Office, carry:

1. A written application addressed to the Tahsildar naming the survey number and village.
2. Your identity proof, Aadhaar, voter ID or driving licence.
3. The earlier patta copy, tax receipt or sale deed showing the number, if you have one.

For a patta transfer or record correction, add the registered sale deed, and where the holder has died, the death certificate and the legal heir certificate.

How to get a land record extract in Puducherry: online steps

1. Open the Nilamagal public search at https://nilamagal.py.gov.in/public/. Reach it from the Revenue Department site at revenue.py.gov.in if you want to confirm you are on the genuine government portal rather than a lookalike.
2. Choose the region — Puducherry, Karaikal, Mahe or Yanam, from the first dropdown.
3. Choose the taluk, then the village or town in which the land lies. The lists refresh after each selection.
4. Choose your search key: Patta Number or R.S. Number. Enter the number exactly as it appears on your document, including any subdivision suffix.
5. Complete the captcha and submit the search.
6. Read the result on screen and print or save it. Check the extent, the classification of the land and the holder's name against the document you already hold.
7. For the guideline value, run the separate G.L.R. search at nilamagal.py.gov.in/glr with the ward, block number, survey number, subdivision and year range, this is the figure the Sub-Registrar uses to compute stamp duty.

How to get a certified copy offline

1. Identify the Taluk Office for the taluk in which the land lies, the revenue jurisdiction, not your residence.
2. Submit a written application to the Tahsildar giving the region, taluk, village, survey number and patta number, and attach your identity proof.
3. Pay only the fee the counter receipts, and insist on that receipt.
4. Collect the signed and sealed extract at the counter on the date the office gives you.

The Department of Revenue and Disaster Management is headquartered at the New Revenue Complex, Vazhudavoor Road, Puducherry - 605 009, and is headed by the Special Secretary (Revenue)-cum-District Collector-cum-District Magistrate. Puducherry also runs an e-District portal at edistrict.py.gov.in, described on its own homepage as a one-stop shop for government-to-citizen services with application tracking, and publishing the toll-free support number 1800 425 2260.

How much does it cost, and what should I refuse to pay?

The Nilamagal online search is free. The Government of Puducherry has put it on a public page with no payment step at all. For any counter-issued certified copy, pay strictly the amount the Taluk Office prints on an official receipt.

Agents outside taluk offices in Puducherry, Karaikal, Mahe and Yanam routinely offer to "get the patta faster" for a few hundred rupees. There is no fast lane. A search you can run yourself in two minutes on a free government portal is not worth paying anyone for, and a middleman cannot make a Tahsildar sign a certified copy sooner. If money is demanded beyond the receipted fee, that is a grievance, not a service charge.

How do I check the status of a patta transfer?

Puducherry's e-District portal supports application tracking with the acknowledgement number issued when the application is filed, so keep that slip. For petitions filed directly with the Tahsildar, follow up at the Taluk Office quoting the petition number and date of filing. A patta transfer is a quasi-judicial revenue proceeding, the Tahsildar may issue notice to other interested parties before ordering the change, which is why it takes longer than a certificate.

Why do Puducherry land record requests fail?

• Wrong village selected. The survey number exists, but in a different village, so the record shown belongs to someone else.
• Old survey number quoted after a subdivision. Once a plot is split, the parent number stops returning a live patta and you must use the subdivision number.
• Sale deed registered but patta never transferred. Registration at the Sub-Registrar and mutation in the revenue record are two separate acts. Many buyers in Puducherry discover years later that the seller's name is still on the patta because nobody applied to the Tahsildar.
• Land is classified as government or poramboke, so no private patta exists.
• Name spelling mismatch between the Aadhaar, the sale deed and the record, which stalls a mutation until an affidavit is filed.

Where do I complain if the record is wrong?

Start with the Tahsildar of the taluk, in writing, with the documents that prove the correct position. The next level is the Deputy Collector (Revenue) and then the District Collector, who in Puducherry is also the Special Secretary (Revenue). For portal faults. A page that will not load, a village missing from the dropdown, a record that does not open: write to the Director of Survey and Land Records at dos.pon@nic.in, the address published on the Nilamagal portal. For e-District service failures, use the toll-free line 1800 425 2260.

Keep a dated copy of every petition you file. In a revenue dispute the date of first complaint often decides who is treated as the diligent party.