Glossary

NRI land and property terms, explained in one paragraph each

The words on your Telangana land records, at the sub-registrar office, and in your CA's emails — defined so you can read your own file. Last updated 18 August 2026.

Pahani (Adangal): The village-level land record in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh showing survey number, extent, classification, crop, and the pattadar (holder). Updated annually; it is what a buyer, bank, or court reads first. Read the guide →
ROR-1B (Record of Rights): The ownership register that lists the pattadar and enjoyer of each survey number in Telangana. Pahani covers cultivation; 1B covers title. Both are viewable on Bhu Bharati. Read the guide →
Bhu Bharati: Telangana's land-records portal (bhubharati.telangana.gov.in) that replaced Dharani in 2025 under the Bhu Bharati Act. Handles Pahani, ROR-1B, passbooks, mutation, and corrections through the Tahsildar with appeal rights. Read the guide →
Dharani: Telangana's earlier integrated land-records and registration portal (2020–2025), replaced by Bhu Bharati. Old Dharani records migrated automatically. Read the guide →
Mutation: Updating the government's record (revenue Pahani/1B or municipal property register) to show the current owner after a sale, gift, partition, or inheritance. Separate from deed registration and required before you can pay tax, borrow, or sell cleanly. Read the guide →
Pattadar passbook: The owner's land passbook issued by the Telangana revenue department listing survey numbers, extent, and title. Needed for mutation, crop loans, and sale registration of agricultural land. Read the guide →
Encumbrance certificate (EC): A Registration & Stamps department certificate listing all registered transactions on a property for a chosen period. A 30-year EC is standard for sale or transfer; pull one every year to catch fraud early. Read the guide →
Sub-Registrar Office (SRO): The office of the Registration & Stamps department where deeds (sale, gift, partition, POA) are registered. Hyderabad has multiple SROs; the property's location decides jurisdiction. Read the guide →
IGRS Telangana: Integrated Grievance Redressal / Registration & Stamps portal (registration.telangana.gov.in) for market-value search, stamp duty, EC, and certified copies. Read the guide →
MRO / Tahsildar: The Mandal Revenue Officer, head of the mandal revenue office. Handles mutation, demarcation, legal-heir certificates, and land disputes at the first level. Read the guide →
MeeSeva: Telangana's citizen-service centres and portal for certificates (legal heir, family member, income, EC), eKYC, and application tracking. Most NRI paperwork passes through a MeeSeva counter. Read the guide →
Power of Attorney (POA): A registered document letting a named person act for you in India. NRIs sign it at the consulate or before a notary with apostille, then adjudicate and register it in India. Prefer a Special POA limited to listed acts and properties. Read the guide →
Apostille: An international certification (Hague Convention) that makes a document signed abroad valid in India. Used on POAs and affidavits when you do not sign at the Indian consulate. Read the guide →
Gift deed: A registered deed transferring property without payment, commonly parents to children. In Telangana, gifts to family attract 2% stamp duty plus 0.5% registration (2026); to others, 5%. Read the guide →
Partition deed: A registered deed splitting jointly held (often ancestral) property among co-owners into defined shares, so each can hold, mutate, and sell separately. Read the guide →
Release deed: A deed by which one co-owner gives up their share in favour of another, usually a sibling. Used to consolidate inherited property with one heir. Read the guide →
Legal heir certificate: A Tahsildar-issued certificate (via MeeSeva) listing the surviving heirs of a deceased person. Required for inheritance mutation, bank claims, and sale of inherited property. Read the guide →
Family member certificate: A MeeSeva certificate listing all members of a deceased person's family, often required alongside the legal heir certificate to confirm no heir was omitted — especially when heirs live abroad. Read the guide →
Succession certificate: A civil-court order under the Indian Succession Act authorising heirs to collect debts and securities of the deceased. Rarely needed for land; the legal heir certificate usually suffices. Read the guide →
FEMA: The Foreign Exchange Management Act, which governs what NRIs and OCIs may own and how money moves in and out of India. It bars NRIs from buying agricultural land and caps repatriation at USD 1 million per year from NRO accounts. Read the guide →
NRE / NRO account: NRE holds foreign earnings in India (freely repatriable); NRO holds Indian income such as rent and sale proceeds (repatriable up to USD 1 million a year with Form 15CA/CB). Property payments and receipts must go through these accounts. Read the guide →
Form 15CA / 15CB: The declaration (15CA) and CA certificate (15CB) filed before a bank remits money abroad from an NRO account — used for sale proceeds and rent above thresholds. Read the guide →
TDS under Section 195: Tax that a buyer or tenant must deduct when paying an NRI: 12.5% (+ surcharge/cess) on long-term gains from property sales after 23 July 2024, 30% on short-term gains, and 30% (~31.2%) on rent. Refundable via an Indian return if excess. Read the guide →
Lower deduction certificate (Section 197): A certificate from the Income-tax department allowing a buyer to deduct TDS at a lower or nil rate on an NRI's property sale, based on the actual expected capital gain. Apply before the sale agreement. Read the guide →
PTIN: Property Tax Identification Number used by GHMC to identify each property for tax. Needed to pay Hyderabad property tax online. Read the guide →
HMDA / DTCP layout: Approval by the Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority (or Directorate of Town & Country Planning outside HMDA) that a plotted layout is legal. Unapproved 'gram panchayat' layouts are a common NRI trap. Read the guide →
TS RERA: Telangana's Real Estate Regulatory Authority. Every apartment/villa project and every agent must be registered; check the RERA number before paying a token. Read the guide →
Adverse possession: A legal doctrine by which someone in open, continuous, hostile possession of land for 12 years can claim title. The reason vacant NRI plots must be visited, fenced, and documented. Read the guide →
Demarcation (survey): A licensed or government survey fixing a plot's boundaries with stones/GPS points, applied for at the MRO. The first formal step in an encroachment complaint. Read the guide →
OCI: Overseas Citizen of India — a foreign national of Indian origin. For property, OCIs follow the same FEMA rules as NRIs: no agricultural land purchase; inheritance and gifts allowed. Read the guide →

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