In a groundbreaking move aimed at dismantling decades-old corruption entrenched in property transactions, Punjab has emerged as the first state in the country to implement a fully digital, free-of-cost Pre-Scrutiny-based Easy Registry System. This reform enables citizens to verify their property documents online before incurring any costs, thereby liberating them from the influence of middlemen, tehsildars, and patwaris, who once monopolized land registration through manipulation and bribery.
At the core of this reform is a revolutionary Pre-Scrutiny Mechanism, which ensures that any sale deed can be evaluated for legal clarity, ownership status, liens, or litigation—all at zero cost to the applicant—no bribes, no under-the-table favours, and most importantly, no unknowns before investing.
This initiative, described as a boon and blessing by Punjab Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema, is being hailed as a historic correction in a system long associated with exploitation. “The people of Punjab have suffered immensely while buying properties. Even today, I come across real cases where red-tapism exploits naive and helpless citizens. This Easy Registry system is not just a reform—it is a blessing for those who could never fight back,” said Cheema.
History of Suffering
For decades, Punjab’s land buyers—particularly farmers, NRIs, women, and the elderly—were trapped in a bureaucratic cycle where every step required unofficial payments. Tehsildars had unchecked power over accepting or rejecting documents. Patwaris often delayed essential paperwork or misrepresented data. Sale deed registration, inheritance entries (intqal), or partition proceedings frequently involved weeks or months of pleading, chasing, and bribing.
Common complaints included files that “disappeared” mysteriously, last-minute objections raised without reason, and registration slots that were “already booked”—until an agent intervened. Most citizens resigned themselves to a silent norm: pay the unofficial fee or watch your application rot.
A Reform With Teeth
Punjab’s Pre-Scrutiny Mechanism changes everything. It allows citizens to upload unsigned sale deeds online through a digital portal. The concerned Tehsildar then has a strict 48-hour window to raise any objections, and those objections are immediately made visible to the Deputy Commissioner (DC) and Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM) through real-time dashboards. No backroom discretion. No unilateral delays.
Most importantly, the applicant pays nothing during this entire scrutiny stage. This means the buyer or seller becomes fully aware of the legal status of the land—whether the title is clean, whether there is a court stay, or if a financial lien exists—before deciding to move forward with the transaction.
Not a Risky Gamble
To strengthen accountability, the state has integrated an automated WhatsApp and SMS alert system that updates the applicant at every stage. If an official tries to create an artificial hurdle or suggests a bribe discreetly, the system itself encourages the applicant to report it directly to the Deputy Commissioner.
Every objection message comes with a default text, drafted with deliberate intent to instigate victims of corruption to report wrongdoers. The full message reads:
“Dear Applicant,
After scrutiny of your documents, the Sub Registrar has raised certain objections. Please go to your Registration Login to see the objections. You are requested to remove these objections. In case these objections are not removed, the registration of your document is likely to be refused/rejected at the time of its presentation or the document may be impounded as the case may be.
In case you feel that frivolous objections have been raised to harass you, please send mail to Deputy Commissioner at email ID dcmhl@punjab.gov.in.
– Team Department of Revenue, Punjab / ਟੀਮ ਮਾਲ ਵਿਭਾਗ, ਪੰਜਾਬ”
“We deliberately ensured every message carries this exact language to instigate the victim to lodge a complaint against any corrupt officer,” said Anurag Verma, Additional Chief Secretary, Revenue, and the visionary behind this reform.
IAS Anurag Verma
This entire project is the brainchild of senior IAS officer Anurag Verma, who not only conceived the concept but steered it through political and administrative hurdles. Verma admitted that implementing the 48-hour scrutiny window was not smooth initially. “We noticed several hiccups in benching the time-limit for pre-scrutiny. Some field officers resisted, citing workload and technicalities. But since the top authority had pure intentions, everything eventually got sorted,” he shared.
His passion for the reform isn’t just professional; it’s personal. “I always wanted this transparency to be placed in the property registry system. Having been a bonafide of Punjab, I have seen people suffering the thumbing down attitude of tehsildars and patwaris over the years. This reform was overdue,” Verma said.
Eliminating Discretion
To prevent arbitrary rejections, each Tehsildar is now bound by a standard checklist that includes critical questions such as:
Does the sale deed show clear title of the seller?
Is the correct segment used for stamp duty?
Is there any court stay or lien on the property?
Any “no” answer must be explained in writing and communicated digitally to the applicant. This leaves no space for manipulation or vague delays.
Breaking Monopoly
Another major reform is the end of jurisdictional monopoly. Until now, citizens had to register property only in the tehsil where the land was located. This often meant falling at the mercy of a specific tehsildar or sub-registrar.
Today, in districts like SAS Nagar (Mohali), a citizen can register documents at any of the seven Sub-Registrar offices. This freedom of location not only provides convenience but breaks the stranglehold of local registrars.
Bringing Services Home
To help citizens who lack legal knowledge or tech access, the government has enabled:
A ‘Draft My Deed’ tool for online self-drafting.
Help counters at each registrar office, manned by licensed advocates and retired patwaris.
A 1076 helpline that dispatches a Sewa Sahayak to the applicant’s home to draft and prepare sale deeds.
These services ensure no citizen is left out, regardless of age, background, or literacy.
Payments Made Transparent
The portal offers real-time fee calculation for stamp duty and registration, eliminating inflated demands. All payments are now made online through a secure gateway that supports 25 banks, and no cash transactions are allowed, cutting out every possible path to corruption.
Refund requests have also reduced drastically, thanks to early-stage objection handling and single-window payment systems.
Clean, Respectful, Efficient
Modern waiting areas, trained reception desks, and citizen-centric environments now greet applicants at all Sub-Registrar offices. Gone are the days of standing in disorderly queues amid dust and disdain. Today’s property registry offices mirror professionalism and order.
Replicable, Scalable & Transformational
This reform is not just a Punjab-first—it’s a national model for land registration overhaul. The Pre-Scrutiny Mechanism, real-time complaint escalation, cross-office freedom, and digital transparency can be replicated across India, offering relief to millions who currently suffer the same fate Punjab did for decades.
“This is not just digitization—it is justice,” said Anurag Verma. “We have finally placed the citizen above the system, where they always belonged.”
And as Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema put it, “This system is a boon and a blessing for Punjab. It gives confidence to the honest, and it scares the corrupt. That’s what good governance should do.”
Punjab has not just digitized land registration—it has rewritten the power equation. A common buyer can now see objections, report bribes, and verify legality—all before spending a rupee. What was once an arena of anxiety has now become a sanctuary of fairness. And the nation is watching.
IAS Sonali Giri, Secretary Revenue exhorts that The whole state will go live on 15th july and soon there will passport sewa kendra style registration sewa kendra. Our intention is make full system faceless with biometric system. So that would be like no where in India e registration with anywhere registration within district.
