Embracing the faceless future: Transforming property registration in India

The Indian registration of immovable property has long reflected the convoluted nature of the Indian system of government, a mixture of colonial regulations, irregular administrative procedures, and low levels of technological adoption. Although the Registration Act, 1908 provides the procedures of registering documents which have an impact on immovable property, the Transfer of Property Act, 1882 provides the substantive rules of transferring property and a valid title.

The registration regime in India has been characterized by obscurity, procrastination and discretion. Buyers usually have to experience varied offices, overlap in jurisdiction, and paper work prone to mistakes and corruption. The move of the State of Haryana to establish a faceless and paperless property-registration system that is run on the Jupitice Justice Technologies Pvt. Ltd. (Jupitice) should be seen as a decisive effort towards rewriting that script.

For decades, the registration offices on State level have been led by rules that are defined in the broad outlines of the Registration Act, 1908. The purpose of the Act, which is to guarantee transparency in transactions of the land in the form of public records, has been largely compromised by old systems and databases that are not connected. The Transfer of Property Act, which is the supplement of this framework, defines the manner and the timing of transfer of property, both of which are the legal pillars of the Indian property ecosphere.

However, the gap between the law and practice still remains. Property related litigation clogs India’s judiciary, accounting for a significant share of all civil cases. Many studies have indicated that 60 to 75 percent of pending civil cases are concerned with land or family property. Lack of updated cadastral maps and coordination between departments and digitisation of encumbrance records have added to the situation.

Reforms such as the Digital India Land Records Modernisation Programme (DILRMP) have achieved measurable progress, digitising close to 95 percent of rural land records. Nevertheless, there are still critical bottlenecks: cadastral maps are still not updated in many areas (about 70 percent), and village habitation clusters (abadi areas) still lack proper registration. The gap between digital records and ground reality continues to fuel contestation.

The obscurity of the conventional systems of registering property has long been a factor that leads to various forms of fraud. These involve counterfeit title, double sales of the same block of land, impersonation of the owners and under valuation of property to avoid paying the stamp duty. Haryana itself has witnessed some prominent cases  like the Gurugram Manesar land scam where the Supreme Court identified massive irregularities and loss to the State exchequer of over 1,500 crore.

Also far, more frequently, numerous studies have revealed the existence of tax leaks to do with manual registration and lack of integration of data. For instance, an Income Tax Department review (2024) revealed that lapses in data-sharing between tehsils led to stamp duty and registration revenue losses estimated at over ₹5,000 crore annually. These systemic inefficiencies erode trust not only in property records but also in governance institutions.

Within this context, the transition of Haryana to an entirely digitalized procedure of registration is one of the boldest administrative reforms taking place in India. The system, launched Statewide in September 2025, eliminates physical paperwork, manual file movement, and multiple in person visits. Instead, the citizens are now obliged to undergo biometric e-KYC once, after which all applications, verifications, payments, and issues of certificates are done online.

Chief Minister Shri Nayab Singh Saini captured the spirit of the reform, observing that the initiative “will minimise human intervention, leaving no room for corruption."

"Now, registry work will be completely digital, and this initiative is a living example of our policy of minimum government–maximum governance," he added.

The government has accompanied this implementation with a WhatsApp-based chatbot and digital court-monitoring tools, which guarantees that property-related services, such as demarcation to the status of dispute, can be remotely accessed. This change is not only formal, but it also reflects a broader commitment to transparency and citizen-centric governance.

The backbone of Haryana’s initiative lies in the digital architecture developed by Jupitice Justice Technologies, an organisation specialising in governance grade solutions for justice, legal and administrative systems. The platform integrates advanced technologies to ensure reliability, security, and interoperability across government departments.

Artificial intelligence(AI) automates data extraction and form completion by pulling verified inputs from Aadhaar and Jamabandi land records. Geographic Information Systems (GIS) provide precise boundary demarcation, addressing one of the major causes of rural land disputes. Blockchain-style data integrity features create immutable transaction trails, ensuring that once a property record is uploaded, it cannot be tampered with or overwritten.

Real-time data integration with e-Courts and financial databases offers immediate visibility into pending encumbrances or litigation, enabling better decision-making for buyers and financiers. Each registration concludes with a digitally signed certificate, embedded with a QR code for instant, tamper-proof verification.

As Raman Aggarwal, CEO of Jupitice, notes,

“Technology must do more than digitise paperwork: it must rebuild trust. The Haryana model uses automation, biometrics, and data integrity tools to create a system where citizens know their records are accurate and secure, and the government can deliver services with accountability.”

Convenience is not the only effect of the Haryana reform. The initial administrative statistics indicate significant improvements in the number of processing and revenue collection. Submission in digital has significantly minimized the time of queuing and reliance on middlemen in the sub-registrar offices.

The automated computation of stamp duty based on official circle rates has curtailed undervaluation fraud, while transparent e-payment systems have improved revenue collection efficiency. As the State government projects, stamp duty and registration revenues are expected to grow by nearly 15 percent in the first year of implementation, demonstrating tangible fiscal benefits.

Equally significant is the inclusivity built into the system. Multilingual interfaces, mobile accessibility, and simplified navigation enable participation from rural and semi-rural populations. By reducing reliance on brokers or document writers, the reform democratises access to secure property ownership.

From a legal perspective, Haryana’s digital registry strengthens the evidentiary chain of ownership. A registered instrument is used as public notice of transfer publicly under the Registration Act. But there are almost inevitably cases of squabbles over earlier unregistered encumbrances, forged deeds or conflicting titles. Such risks are minimized by the incorporation of encumbrance, litigation and GIS data.

For the judiciary, the long term benefits may include a decline in land related suits. Property and family issues make up a third to a quarter of civil litigation; hence, a slight decline would relieve the courtrooms dramatically. By aligning the compliance of the procedures with the substantive title checks by the transfer of property act, the digital system at Haryana has the potential of ensuring that registered records are aligned with verified and demarcated plots.

Haryana’s experiment offers valuable lessons for other States embarking on digital governance journeys. First, technology must follow process reform. Uploading documents to an online portal without eliminating redundant manual steps only extends inefficiency. Second, integration is key: land records, court data, and financial databases must speak to one another for transparency to take root. Third, sustained investment in digital literacy and capacity-building will be essential to ensure equitable access.

While challenges persist, such as variable internet penetration and the need for continued cadastral updates, the Haryana model exemplifies a viable blueprint for systemic reform. It demonstrates how procedural modernisation, based in statutory frameworks like the Registration Act, can deliver both legal certainty and administrative efficiency.

For decades, property registration in India symbolised bureaucratic opacity and citizen frustration. Haryana’s fully faceless, paperless system, driven by Jupitice’s technological innovation signals a shift toward a governance model defined by transparency, accountability, and citizen empowerment.

By re-engineering the process rather than merely digitising paperwork, Haryana has set a precedent for how Indian states can bridge the gap between legal intention and administrative execution. The initiative’s success lies not only in its technological sophistication but in its reaffirmation of a fundamental democratic promise: that ownership, once registered, should be secure, verifiable, and free from doubt.

To know more, visit jupitice.com or send an email at enquiry@jupitice.com

Disclaimer: This is a sponsored article from Jupitice.