What is the difference between RTC and Pahani in Karnataka?

They are the same document. RTC stands for "Record of Rights, Tenancy and Crops" and is the official English name; "Pahani" is the commonly used Kannada name for the very same record. It is the primary land record for agricultural land in Karnataka, maintained on the Bhoomi portal by the Revenue Department, and shows the owner, survey number, extent, land classification, and crop details.

Is the RTC I download from Bhoomi legally valid?

There are two versions. The free "view" RTC is for information only and is not a certified document. The digitally-signed RTC (often called i-RTC), available for a small fee through Bhoomi online services, carries a digital signature and is accepted by banks, courts, and government offices as a valid record. For any official use — a loan, a sale, a court matter — download the digitally-signed i-RTC, not the free view copy.

My RTC still shows the previous owner after I bought the land. What do I do?

This means the mutation (transfer of ownership in the record) has not been completed. After a registered sale, the change must be recorded through a mutation (MR) entry at the Tahsildar / Village Accountant level. If it has been more than a few months and the RTC still shows the seller, the mutation is stuck. The fastest way to force movement is an RTI to the Tahsildar asking for the status of your mutation application, the officer holding the file, and the reason for delay — once that is on the record in writing, stuck mutations typically begin moving within 30-45 days.

How do I check my mutation (MR) status on Bhoomi?

The Bhoomi portal has a "Mutation Status" / "MR (Mutation Register) Reports" section where you can view the mutation history and pending mutations for a survey number. If your mutation does not appear, or shows as "pending" or "pending at higher office" for months with no progress, the portal will not tell you why — only an RTI to the Tahsildar can compel the office to disclose the reason for delay and the responsible officer.

The Bhoomi portal shows "no record found" for my survey number. Why?

Common reasons: (1) the survey number was sub-divided (hissa) and the record sits under a different sub-number; (2) the village/hobli/taluk was selected incorrectly in the dropdowns; (3) the land was recently converted or is non-agricultural and is no longer on Bhoomi (it may now be under e-Swathu for gram panchayat property or BBMP khata for urban property); or (4) a genuine record gap or digitisation error at the Revenue office. If you have confirmed the location details are correct and the record still does not appear, an RTI to the Tahsildar asking for the certified RTC and the reason it is missing from Bhoomi forces the office to either produce it or explain the gap in writing.

Is Bhoomi the right portal for my house/site in Bangalore city?

Usually no. Bhoomi holds AGRICULTURAL land records (RTC/Pahani). For an urban property inside a city corporation like BBMP, the relevant record is the khata (now largely on e-Aasthi), maintained by the municipal body — not Bhoomi. For non-agricultural property in a gram panchayat area, the record is Form 9 / Form 11 on the e-Swathu portal. Filing for the wrong record type is the single most common reason citizens get a "not held by this office" deflection.

Can I get an Encumbrance Certificate (EC) or sale deed copy from Bhoomi?

No. Bhoomi is for land records (RTC/mutation). Encumbrance Certificates and certified copies of registered documents (sale deed, gift deed) come from the Registration Department through the Kaveri Online Services portal, not Bhoomi. If the Sub-Registrar refuses or stalls an EC or a certified deed copy, that refusal is itself actionable — Section 57 of the Registration Act 1908 entitles you to certified copies, and an RTI compels the office to comply.

How do I get the survey sketch (Tippani) or boundary map for my land?

Survey sketches and digitised cadastral maps in Karnataka come from the Survey Settlement and Land Records department through the Mojini (survey) and Dishaank (GIS map) systems, not the main RTC view. If a re-survey, sub-division (11E sketch), or boundary demarcation has been applied for and is not moving, an RTI to the Assistant Director of Land Records / Tahsildar asking for the survey application status and the surveyor responsible is the most effective way to force action.

How long should a mutation take in Karnataka, and what is the legal basis to push it?

Under the Karnataka Land Revenue Act 1964 and its rules, a mutation following a registered transaction is meant to be completed within a defined, short window (the office is required to record and certify the change after due notice to interested parties) — not the months or years it often takes in practice. Delay beyond that is administrative inaction. An RTI under Sections 2(f), 2(h) and 7(1) of the RTI Act 2005 compels the Tahsildar to disclose the file status, the reasons for delay, and the officer responsible — creating an accountability trail that almost always gets the file moving.

What does filing a Karnataka land RTI through FileMyRTI cost?

Our Basic plan is ₹399 per RTI: a Bar Council advocate drafts the application, files it to the correct PIO (Tahsildar / Assistant Director of Land Records / Sub-Registrar as applicable), and tracks it until reply. Our Premium plan at ₹599 adds a phone consultation — useful when the right framing of the question decides the outcome. Every application includes a free First Appeal under Section 19(1) if the office misses the 30-day deadline. Call +91 99111 00589 for multi-RTI strategies on complex land matters.

Bhoomi Karnataka: How to View & Download Your RTC, Pahani & Mutation Status Online (2026) | FileMyRTI

2nd of Jun. 2026
By - Advocate Narsimha Chary

Topics

Last updated: June 2026 · Reviewed by Adv. Narsimha Chary, Bar Council of Telangana (TS/1034/2008), 18 years legal practice, 10,000+ RTI applications personally drafted.

The short version

Bhoomi is Karnataka's online land records system, run by the Revenue Department. It is where you view and download your RTC — the "Record of Rights, Tenancy and Crops", known in Kannada as the Pahani — for agricultural land, along with mutation (ownership-change) history and crop details. The official portal is landrecords.karnataka.gov.in.

This guide does two things. First, it shows you exactly how to view your RTC, download a legally-valid (digitally-signed) RTC, and check your mutation (MR) status on Bhoomi. Second — and this is where most people actually get stuck — it shows you what to do when the record is wrong, outdated, missing, or your mutation has been "pending" for months. When the portal stops being useful, an RTI under the Right to Information Act 2005 compels the Revenue office to disclose, in writing, the status of your file, the officer responsible, and the reason for delay. Under Section 7(1), they must reply in 30 days.

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What is the RTC (Pahani)?

The RTC is the single most important land record for agricultural land in Karnataka. Banks ask for it before a loan, buyers ask for it before a sale, and courts treat it as primary evidence of cultivation and possession. It is not a title deed — it does not by itself prove ownership in law — but it is the working record of who holds and cultivates the land according to the Revenue Department.

Every RTC contains, in columns:

What you'll see on the RTC	What it means
Survey number / Hissa (sub-division) number	The unique ID of the land parcel. A sub-divided parcel carries a hissa number — this is where many "no record found" errors come from.
Owner / Khatedar name & extent	Who holds the land and how much — extent shown in acres-guntas.
Kharab	Portion of land classified as uncultivable / reserved (e.g., for paths, channels).
Soil / land classification & assessment	Dry / wet / garden classification and the land revenue assessed.
Crops grown (column 12)	Season-wise crop entries — important for crop loans, insurance, and compensation claims.
Mutation (MR) numbers	The chain of ownership changes. Each sale, inheritance, or partition should create an MR entry here.

How to view your RTC online (free)

The free view copy is for your own reference. The portal layout is occasionally updated by the Revenue Department, but the path has remained essentially the same:

Go to landrecords.karnataka.gov.in and open the "View RTC and MR" option.
Select, in order, your District → Taluk → Hobli → Village from the dropdowns.
Enter your Survey Number, then choose the Surnoc, Hissa number, and period/year when prompted.
Click Fetch details / Go. The RTC is displayed on screen — you can read every column described above.

If nothing appears, the usual culprit is the wrong hissa number or the wrong village in the dropdown — try the parent survey number first, then the sub-divisions.

How to download a legally-valid (digitally-signed) RTC — the i-RTC

For anything official — a bank loan, a land sale, a court matter, a subsidy application — the free view copy is not enough. You need the digitally-signed RTC (i-RTC), which carries the Revenue Department's digital signature and is accepted as a valid document.

On the Bhoomi online services, choose the signed / i-RTC option (it may require a one-time mobile-number registration / OTP login).
Select your land the same way — District, Taluk, Hobli, Village, Survey/Hissa.
Pay the small statutory fee online when prompted.
Download the digitally-signed PDF. This is the copy you submit to banks, registrars, and courts.

Tip: If the i-RTC you download still shows old/incorrect owner or extent details, downloading it again won't fix it — the underlying record itself is wrong and must be corrected through mutation or rectification. That's a Revenue-office action, and an RTI is the lever that moves it. Jump to the fix →

How to check your mutation (MR) status

A mutation is the process of updating the land record after ownership changes — a sale, an inheritance, a gift, or a partition. On Bhoomi it is recorded as an MR (Mutation Register) entry.

From the Bhoomi portal, open "Mutation Status" or "MR (Mutation Register) Reports".
Select your District → Taluk → Hobli → Village and enter the Survey/Hissa number.
The portal lists the mutation history and any pending mutations for that parcel.

If your mutation shows as "pending", "pending at higher office", or simply does not appear months after your registered sale — the portal will tell you the status but never the reason. That is precisely the gap an RTI closes.

The other Karnataka land portals (so you don't file to the wrong one)

Bhoomi only covers agricultural land RTCs. Pick the right system for your record type:

Bhoomi — agricultural land RTC / Pahani / mutation: landrecords.karnataka.gov.in
Kaveri Online Services — registration, Encumbrance Certificate (EC), certified copies of sale/gift deeds: kaverionline.karnataka.gov.in
Dishaank — GIS / cadastral land-parcel map (view boundaries, survey numbers on a map)
Mojini — digitised survey / sketch (Tippani), sub-division (11E) sketches, re-survey applications
e-Swathu — non-agricultural property in gram panchayat areas (Form 9 / Form 11)
BBMP e-Aasthi / Khata — urban property inside Bengaluru's city corporation (khata extract, khata certificate)
Karnataka State Information Commission (for RTI Second Appeals): kic.karnataka.gov.in

When the portal can't help: the 6 situations where you need an RTI

Viewing a record is easy. Getting a wrong, missing, or stuck record fixed is where citizens lose months. In every situation below, Bhoomi shows you the problem but gives you no way to solve it — and the Revenue office has no incentive to act until your request is on the record in writing. An RTI puts it on the record.

1. RTC still shows the previous owner (mutation not done)

You bought the land, the sale deed is registered, but the RTC still names the seller. The mutation is stuck somewhere between the Village Accountant and the Tahsildar. RTI asks: the status of mutation application [number/date] for survey [X], the name and designation of the officer holding the file, all file notings, the reason for delay beyond the statutory window, and the expected date of the MR entry. Mutation RTI service →

2. "No record found" for a survey number that exists

The parcel is real but Bhoomi returns nothing — often a hissa/sub-division mismatch or a digitisation gap. RTI asks: the certified RTC for survey/hissa [X] of village [Y], and if it is not reflected on Bhoomi, the reason for the omission and the steps to correct it. Pahani / RTC RTI service →

3. Wrong owner name, extent, or khata on the record

A spelling error, wrong extent (acres-guntas), or a name that was never updated after inheritance. RTI asks: the basis of the current entry, the document/order under which it was made, and the procedure and officer for rectification.

4. Survey / sub-division / boundary (11E sketch) stuck

A re-survey, sub-division, or boundary demarcation applied for through Mojini that never moves. RTI asks: the status of survey application [X], the surveyor assigned, the inspection date, and the reason for delay. Land Survey RTI service →

5. Land wrongly marked as Government / disputed / prohibited

Your RTC carries a "Government land", "disputed", or "under enquiry" flag you don't understand. RTI asks: the order, file, and authority under which the classification was made, and the procedure to contest it. This converts an opaque flag into a documented order you can challenge.

6. Encumbrance Certificate or sale deed copy refused (Kaveri / SRO)

Strictly a Registration Department matter, not Bhoomi — but it blocks the same transactions. RTI asks: the reason for non-issuance, citing Section 57 of the Registration Act 1908, and the list of registered transactions for the property as the EC itself. Encumbrance Certificate RTI service →

→ Recognise your situation above? We draft the exact RTI for it.

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Why an RTI works when visits and applications don't

A counter visit leaves no trace. An online application sits in a queue no one is accountable for. An RTI is a statutory demand: once it is formally received, a named officer is legally obliged to respond within 30 days, and their inaction becomes a documented, appealable record. In our experience filing over 50,000 RTI applications since 2018, revenue files that had been stuck for 12-24 months frequently begin moving within 30-45 days of an RTI being registered — because no officer wants their delay on the record with their name attached.

The legal foundation

Section 2(h), RTI Act 2005 — the Revenue Department, Tahsildar's office, Survey & Land Records, and the Registration Department are all "public authorities".
Section 2(f), RTI Act 2005 — file notings, registers, the mutation file, and survey reports are all disclosable "information".
Section 7(1), RTI Act 2005 — 30-day response window (48 hours where life or liberty is at stake).
Section 6(3), RTI Act 2005 — if you address the wrong office, it must transfer your application to the correct PIO within 5 days.
Section 19(1), RTI Act 2005 — free First Appeal if the office misses the deadline (included with every FileMyRTI application).
Section 20, RTI Act 2005 — personal penalty up to ₹25,000 on a PIO for wilful non-disclosure.
Karnataka Land Revenue Act 1964 & Rules — govern RTC entries, mutation timelines, and survey procedure; the basis for arguing that a long-pending mutation is administrative inaction.
Section 57, Registration Act 1908 — your right to certified copies of registered documents (the EC / sale-deed route via Kaveri).

How we file your Karnataka land RTI — 5 steps

Step 1
Identify office

Tahsildar, ADLR, or Sub-Registrar — depending on the matter.

›

Step 2
Draft questions

Specific, dated, survey-number precise. Our advocates handle this.

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Step 3
File + fee

Online or Registered Post with the ₹10 statutory fee.

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Step 4
Track 30 days

Section 7(1) deadline. We follow up and forward the reply.

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Step 5
Reply or Appeal

No reply by Day 31 → free First Appeal under Sec 19(1).

Keep reading

RTI for Land Records in Karnataka — the Bhoomi-to-RTI deep dive (when you already know you need an RTI)
RTI for Property & Land Records in India — the complete national guide
Karnataka RTI Guide — how RTI works state-wide, with district-level detail
All Property & Land RTI services

Frequently asked questions

See the FAQ section below for the ten most-asked questions on Bhoomi, RTC, Pahani, and mutation — answered with statute and our 50,000-application experience.

Conclusion

Bhoomi has made viewing your RTC and mutation status genuinely easy — and for most people, that's all they need. But the moment the record is wrong, outdated, missing, or stuck, the portal goes silent, and the Revenue office has no reason to move until you make your request a matter of record. That's what the Right to Information Act 2005 is for. Section 7(1) compels a 30-day reply; Section 19 gives you free appellate recourse; Section 20 puts a personal penalty on officers who stonewall.

→ Apply Now — File Your Karnataka Land RTI →
→ From ₹399 · Bar Council advocate-drafted · 30-day government reply · Free First Appeal if denied
→ 📞 +91 99111 00589 · 📧 admin@filemyrti.com

This article is informational and explains the public Bhoomi portal and the RTI route; it is not a substitute for legal advice on title or partition disputes, which require civil court adjudication. Government portal layouts and fees are set by the Karnataka Revenue Department and may change. FileMyRTI specialises in Right to Information applications — we will tell you upfront when your matter needs litigation help rather than an RTI.

Legal basis & binding precedent for this topic

Statute

Tehsildars, Mandal Revenue Officers, Sub-Divisional Magistrates, and District Collectors are "public authorities" under Section 2(h). Mutation register entries, survey records, and file notings on pending mutation applications are "information" under Section 2(f).

Case law

The Supreme Court has repeatedly held (across a line of cases including Smt. Sawarni vs. Smt. Inder Kaur (AIR 1996 SC 2823)) that mutation entries do not by themselves confer title — they are fiscal records. Precisely because mutation records are administrative, not adjudicative, they fall squarely within RTI disclosure. State Information Commissions have ordered Tehsildars to disclose mutation file progress in numerous rulings.

How we use this

Mutation RTIs work best when they ask for file-movement status, objections filed (with party details), and the officer responsible — rather than challenging the mutation decision itself (which is a separate revenue-court matter). This approach keeps the RTI firmly within Section 2(f) territory.

Section references are to the Right to Information Act, 2005. Case citations refer to reported judgments of the Supreme Court of India, High Courts, and the Central / State Information Commissions. This article is a general statement of law — for facts-specific advice on your matter, consult a qualified advocate.

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Legal review ensures the interpretation of RTI Act provisions, cited rulings, and procedural steps in this article reflect current law and standard practice before Central and State Information Commissions. Full profile of Adv. Narsimha Chary →