Land & Property Records

Encumbrance Certificate: What It Proves, How to Get It and Fees

An encumbrance certificate lists registered sales and mortgages on a property. Apply to the sub-registrar, often online; fees vary by state.

Written by Rohan Mehta

Published 17 September 2026·5 min read

On this page9 sections

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An encumbrance certificate (EC) lists the registered transactions on a property, such as sales, mortgages, gifts and releases, for the period you choose. It comes from the state registration department (the sub-registrar’s office), and most states now take applications online. Fees are set by each state. In Karnataka, for example, you pay ₹35 for the first year searched and ₹10 for each further year.

Key facts

Item	Detail
Issued by	Sub-registrar’s office of the state Registration and Stamps Department
Based on	Registers and indexes of documents registered under the Registration Act, 1908
Shows	Registered documents affecting the property during the search period
Does not show	Unregistered deals, lenders’ charges filed only with CERSAI, tax dues, court cases
Fee	State-specific; see the table below
Online portals	Kaveri Online Services (Karnataka), TNREGINET (Tamil Nadu), registration.telangana.gov.in (Telangana), IGR eSearch (Maharashtra), jamabandi.nic.in (Haryana)

What an EC shows and what it does not

An EC is a search of the sub-registrar’s registers. If a sale deed, mortgage deed or gift deed for the property was registered in the period searched, it should appear, usually with the document number, date, nature of the deed and the parties.

A few things will not appear:

Transactions that were never registered, such as an unregistered agreement or an oral family arrangement.
A lender’s security interest recorded only with CERSAI (Central Registry of Securitisation Asset Reconstruction and Security Interest of India). Maharashtra’s registration department lists a CERSAI search as a separate non-encumbrance check.
Unpaid property tax, which you check with the local body.
Pending court cases, which you check on eCourts.

An EC is not a title certificate either. Maharashtra’s eSearch portal states that its search output is for information only and is not an ownership certificate.

Nil EC vs EC with entries

If nothing was registered against the property in the period, you get a nil encumbrance certificate. If there were registered transactions, the certificate lists them. In Karnataka and some other southern states these are known as Form 16 (nil) and Form 15 (with entries), according to Landeed’s Karnataka guide.

A nil EC over a period that includes the seller’s own purchase should worry you, because the seller’s own purchase deed ought to show up. Check that you searched the right survey number and sub-registrar office.

When buyers and banks ask for it

Item	Details
Before buying	to confirm the seller’s chain of ownership and that no mortgage is still open.
For a home loan or loan against property	lenders commonly ask for an EC as part of their legal check.
At resale	the next buyer’s lawyer will want one covering your period of ownership.

Our property legal due diligence checklist shows where the EC fits among the other papers.

How to apply online

Screens differ by state, but the flow is similar.

Collect the property details: district, sub-registrar office, village, survey or property number, and the document number and year of the last registered deed.
Open your state portal and register or log in. On Telangana’s registration site, choose Citizen as the user type.
Pick the encumbrance search or EC service.
Enter the property details and the period you want searched.
Pay the fee online.
Download the certificate or search report, or collect it from the office if your state issues only paper copies.

Offline, you apply at the sub-registrar’s office with the same property details and pay the fee at the counter. Our state guides cover the screens for Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh, and the IGRS portal guide covers registration search more broadly.

Period, fees and timelines

State	Official fee	Notes
Karnataka	₹35 for the first year; ₹10 for every other year	Apply on Kaveri Online Services
Telangana	₹200 per certificate for up to 30 years; ₹500 for more than 30 years	Fee table under G.O.Ms.No.463 (2013) on the department site; citizen charter sets 1 hour for a computerised EC at the office
Maharashtra	Search with report up to 12 years: ₹300; each additional year: ₹25 (computerised records)	Free Index II search for documents from 1985 onwards on eSearch; paid search for copies
Tamil Nadu	Check TNREGINET	Current fee not confirmed from an official page
Haryana	Check jamabandi.nic.in	Apply New and View Status options for EC on the portal

Other states set their own fees. Telangana’s page reproduces a 2013 order, so confirm the amount on the payment screen.

For the period, cover at least the time since the property was last sold, and ideally the full chain of documents your lawyer is reviewing. Longer searches cost more in states that charge per year.

Reading the entries and spotting red flags

#	Item	Details
1	Match the chain.	Each sale should run from the previous buyer to the next, ending with your seller.
2	Pair every mortgage with a release.	A registered mortgage with no later release or reconveyance deed means the loan may still be open.
3	Watch for extra sales.	Two sale deeds for the same land to different buyers point to a dispute.
4	Check powers of attorney.	A sale by an agent needs the power of attorney to be genuine and still in force.
5	Check the property description.	Survey number, extent and boundaries should match your deed.

If the entries are unclear or a mortgage looks open, a property lawyer can read the EC with the underlying deeds before you pay any advance.

Frequently asked questions

What is an encumbrance certificate?

It is a certificate from the sub-registrar’s office that lists registered transactions on a property for a chosen period. A nil EC means no registered transaction was found.

What is the fee for an encumbrance certificate in Karnataka?

₹35 for the first year searched and ₹10 for every other year, according to the Karnataka Department of Stamps and Registration.

How much does an EC cost in Telangana?

The department’s fee table lists ₹200 per certificate for up to 30 years and ₹500 for more than 30 years. Confirm on the portal before paying.

Can I search encumbrance details in Telangana online?

Yes. Log in as a citizen on registration.telangana.gov.in and use Encumbrance Search.

Does an EC show bank loans on a property?

It shows mortgages registered with the sub-registrar. A lender’s charge recorded only with CERSAI needs a separate CERSAI search.

Is a nil encumbrance certificate proof of clear title?

No. It only means nothing was registered in the period searched. Title depends on the chain of deeds.

Sources

EC and CC fee — Department of Stamps and Registration, Karnataka (checked 16 Sep 2026)
Table of fees, G.O.Ms.No.463 — Registration and Stamps Department, Telangana (checked 16 Sep 2026)
Citizen charter — Registration and Stamps Department, Telangana (checked 16 Sep 2026)
Encumbrance search — Registration and Stamps Department, Telangana (checked 16 Sep 2026)
Registration fee table, Article X (searches) — IGR Maharashtra (checked 16 Sep 2026)
Ease of doing business: title search and non-encumbrance checks — IGR Maharashtra (checked 16 Sep 2026)
eSearch portal and disclaimer — IGR Maharashtra (checked 16 Sep 2026)
Encumbrance certificate options — WEB-HALRIS, Revenue Department, Haryana (checked 16 Sep 2026)
TNREGINET — Registration Department, Tamil Nadu (checked 16 Sep 2026)
CERSAI public search — Government of India (checked 16 Sep 2026)
Form 15 and Form 16 EC in Karnataka — Landeed (checked 16 Sep 2026)