Property Registration & Stamp Duty in Karnataka (Kaveri Online Services): Charges and Process (2026)

How-To · Karnataka Property Registration

Updated for 2026 · Claw Editorial

To register a property in Karnataka, you book a slot on Kaveri Online Services, pay the stamp duty and registration fee, go to the Sub-Registrar office with the buyer, seller and witnesses, and collect the registered deed. Stamp duty is charged in slabs by property value, and the registration fee is a further percentage of the value. Rates change from time to time, so check the current figure on the official portal before you pay. Before you register, also check the title, the encumbrance and any court cases on the property and the parties. Last verified: October 2026.

01What property registration means in Karnataka

Buying a property is not complete when you pay the seller. In Karnataka, a sale of immovable property is completed by a registered sale deed. The deed is signed before the Sub-Registrar and recorded in the government register. Only then does the sale have full legal standing against third parties.

The Department of Stamps and Registration runs this process. Most of the paperwork now starts online on Kaveri Online Services, the state portal. You still have to visit the Sub-Registrar office in person to sign, give biometrics and complete the registration.

The same process applies to other deeds too, such as gift deeds, settlement deeds and some agreements. The rates differ by deed type. This guide focuses on the most common case: a sale deed.

02Stamp duty vs registration fee

People often mix these two up. They are separate charges, paid for separate reasons.

• Stamp duty: a state tax on the transaction. It is what makes the deed a valid, admissible document. It is the larger charge.
• Registration fee: a fee for recording the deed in the government register. It is a smaller percentage of the property value.
• Cess and surcharge: extra charges that are added on top of the stamp duty in many cases. Check the portal calculator for the exact total.

If you pay too little stamp duty, the deed can be impounded and you may have to pay a deficiency and a penalty later. It is better to get the number right the first time.

03Karnataka stamp duty and registration charges (sale deed)

The table below shows the commonly quoted structure for a sale deed. Treat it as a guide only and confirm the current rate on the portal calculator before you pay.

For example, on a flat priced at Rs 60 lakh, the slab above Rs 45 lakh would apply, and the registration fee and cess would come on top. Always use the official calculator for your own deed type and area.

04Guidance value (ready reckoner or circle rate)

Karnataka fixes a minimum guidance value for land and buildings in each area. It is the same idea as the ready reckoner or circle rate used in other states. The duty is generally worked out on the higher of two numbers: the price in your deed or the guidance value of the property.

This means you cannot lower your stamp duty by writing a lower price in the deed. If the guidance value is higher, the duty follows it. You can look up the guidance value for your area on Kaveri Online Services before you fix the price in the deed.

05Documents you need

Keep these ready before you book your slot. The Sub-Registrar can ask for more, depending on the property.

• The draft sale deed, prepared on the correct value.
• Seller’s title documents: the earlier deeds that show how the seller got the property.
• Latest encumbrance certificate. See our guide to downloading an encumbrance certificate.
• Khata certificate and khata extract, and the latest property tax receipt.
• Land records for agricultural land. See how to check Karnataka land records online.
• Photo ID, PAN and Aadhaar of the buyer, the seller and the witnesses.
• Passport size photos, and proof of stamp duty and fee payment.
• Approvals if needed, such as a conversion order, a layout or building plan approval, or an occupancy certificate for flats.

06Step-by-step: how to register a property in Karnataka

1. Check the property first. Verify the title, the encumbrance and any disputes before you pay any large amount. See the next section.
2. Find the guidance value. Look up the guidance value for your area and fix the deed value accordingly.
3. Draft the sale deed. Get it drafted and checked by an advocate. Make sure names, survey or khata numbers, boundaries and price match the documents.
4. Go to Kaveri Online Services. Open Kaveri Online Services and register or log in.
5. Enter the deed details. Add the party details, property details and value. Use the portal calculator to see your stamp duty and registration fee.
6. Pay online. Pay the stamp duty and registration fee through the portal. Keep the payment receipt.
7. Book an appointment. Choose a date and time at the Sub-Registrar office that covers your property.
8. Visit the Sub-Registrar office. The buyer, the seller and the witnesses attend with original ID and the documents. The officer checks them, and the parties sign and give biometrics and photographs.
9. Collect the registered deed. After registration you get the deed with the registration stamp. Keep the original safe.
10. Update records. Apply for khata transfer and mutation in your name, and update tax and utility records.

07What to check before you register

Registration does not prove that the seller has a good title. The Sub-Registrar records the deed. The office does not guarantee that the property is free of disputes. That risk stays with you, the buyer.

Title and encumbrance

Read the chain of earlier deeds. Check that every owner who should sign has signed. The encumbrance certificate shows registered loans, mortgages and transfers. It does not show everything.

Court cases

An encumbrance certificate only lists registered transactions. A pending suit, an injunction, a recovery case or a partition dispute may not show up there. A case against the seller, or against a past owner, can affect your purchase. Search the parties by name in court records before you pay.

Other red flags

• The seller is not the person on the title.
• Property is sold through a power of attorney with no clear chain.
• Khata or tax records do not match the deed.
• The price is far below the guidance value, or the seller pushes you to hurry.

If the property is for a company or a real estate project, litigation checks matter even more. See the best legal due diligence tools in India and litigation management for real estate companies.

08Where Claw fits

Claw is an all-in-one legaltech platform for Indian advocates, law firms, and corporate legal teams, combining AI-based case search, an AI legal assistant (Legal GPT), case management, and compliance automation across all Indian courts and tribunals.

Claw does not register your property. That is done only on Kaveri Online Services and at the Sub-Registrar office. Claw helps with the step before: checking for court trouble. It tracks cases across 9,102 forums and its case search covers 30 crore+ judgments, with results in under 5 seconds. You can check a property, a seller or a developer by name, and look for suits, disputes and orders that the encumbrance certificate will not show.

Before you register, create a free Claw account to check property litigation, title disputes and the parties by name. Claw has a free plan for individual advocates. Teams and enterprises are on paid plans. Claw does not use customer case documents to train AI models.

09Sources and further reading

• Kaveri Online Services (Department of Stamps and Registration, Karnataka): kaverionline.karnataka.gov.in
• Claw: clawlaw.in

Rates and procedure can change by government notification. Confirm the current figures on the official portal. This guide is general information and not legal advice.

10Frequently asked questions