How to Download RTC (Pahani) Online in Karnataka: Bhoomi Guide

Published: 4 September 2026 | Updated on: 4 September 2026 | By L K Monu Borkala, CEO & Founder, OneCity Property — 15 years of property consultancy experience and over 20 years in marketing and management at OneCity Technologies Pvt. Ltd.

What is an RTC or Pahani in Karnataka?

RTC stands for Record of Rights, Tenancy and Crops. In Kannada it is called the Pahani, and both names refer to the same document — the primary ownership record for every parcel of agricultural land in Karnataka, maintained by the Revenue Department. A single RTC extract shows the owner's name, survey number, hissa (sub-division), land extent in acres and guntas, soil classification, tenancy status, crops grown, and the annual land revenue (kandaya) payable.

If you are buying farmland, applying for a crop loan, settling an inheritance, or verifying a seller's title, the RTC is the first document you check. It sits alongside other core records like the Encumbrance Certificate, which shows registered transactions on the property, and the mutation record, which tracks ownership changes. Understanding local units helps too — extents on an RTC appear in acres, guntas and cents, explained in our Karnataka land measurement guide.

Karnataka's Bhoomi project, launched in 2000, digitised more than 2 crore land records across all districts, and today the entire system runs through the portal at landrecords.karnataka.gov.in. You no longer need a visit to the taluk office for a routine RTC check.

How do I view my RTC free on the Bhoomi portal?

The free on-screen view takes about two minutes and needs no registration, login or Aadhaar:

1. Open landrecords.karnataka.gov.in — the official Bhoomi portal of the Revenue Department.
2. Click View RTC and MR on the homepage.
3. Select your District, then Taluk, Hobli and Village from the dropdown menus, in that order.
4. Enter the Survey Number of the land parcel.
5. Choose the Surnoc and Hissa Number, then the period or year you want the record for.
6. Click Fetch Details. The RTC appears on screen with ownership, extent, crop and liability columns. Use the print or save option in your browser to keep a PDF copy.

Every field must match the title documents exactly. A wrong hobli or hissa selection returns either "Data Not Found" or a different parcel entirely — the most common reason people believe their record is missing when it is not.

How do I download the legally valid i-RTC?

The free view copy carries a watermark and is not accepted for official purposes. Banks, courts, sub-registrar offices and government departments require the digitally signed version, commonly called the i-RTC:

1. Go to the Bhoomi online services section or directly to rtc.karnataka.gov.in.
2. Enter the same details as the free view — district, taluk, hobli, village, survey number, surnoc, hissa.
3. Pay the prescribed fee online (a nominal amount, around Rs 10 per extract at the time of writing — the portal shows the current fee before payment).
4. Download the PDF. It carries the Revenue Department's digital signature and is valid for bank loans, court submissions, registration and any government process across Karnataka.

Frequent users can register an i-RTC Wallet on the portal — link Aadhaar and a bank account, load a minimum balance, and pay for extracts directly from the wallet without repeating card details each time.

Can I find my RTC without a survey number?

Yes, two official routes exist:

Search by owner name. On the View RTC screen, switch to the owner-name search, enter the name exactly as it appears on the registered deed, and filter by village. The portal lists matching parcels with their survey numbers — note down yours and run the standard search.

Locate by GPS. The Revenue Department's Dishaank mobile app shows the survey number of the land you are standing on, using your phone's GPS. For survey sketches and village maps, the Mojini system linked from the Bhoomi portal provides measurement extracts.

How do I check mutation (MR) status on Bhoomi?

Mutation is the update of the RTC after ownership changes — sale, inheritance, gift, partition or court order. On the portal, open View Mutation Status, select district, taluk, hobli and village, and enter the survey number. The screen shows the mutation register entry, its current stage, and any objections recorded.

Since 2024, Karnataka runs auto-mutation for registered sale deeds: the Sub-Registrar's Kaveri system pushes the transaction to Bhoomi, and the RTC typically updates within about 15 days of registration, without a separate application. Inheritance and partition cases still require an application to the revenue office. The full procedure, documents and timelines are covered in our Karnataka property mutation guide, and the registration process itself in the property registration documents checklist.

What does each column of the RTC mean?

An RTC extract has numbered columns. The ones that matter most when verifying land:

• Owner details — the recorded khatedar's name. This must match the seller's identity documents exactly.
• Survey number, surnoc and hissa — the parcel's unique identity. Cross-check against the sale deed and survey sketch.
• Extent — area in acres and guntas.
• Land classification — dry (khushki), wet (tari), or garden (bagayat) land, which affects valuation and conversion.
• Tenancy and liabilities — entries showing tenants, crop loans or acquisition proceedings. A loan entry here means the land is pledged to a bank or society.
• Crop details — season-wise crops recorded by the village accountant.

Why does Bhoomi show "Data Not Found" for my land?

This message appears far more often from input errors than missing records. Work through these causes in order:

• Wrong dropdown selection — the hobli or village chosen does not match the one on your title deed. Villages with similar names exist within the same taluk.
• Survey number format — enter only the base number in the survey field; the sub-division goes in the hissa field, not typed together as "45/2".
• Recently registered land — auto-mutation takes roughly 15 days after registration. Before that, the RTC still shows the previous owner.
• Converted land — once agricultural land is officially converted for residential or commercial use, it moves out of the RTC system toward khata records. Our guide to land use conversion in Karnataka explains what happens to records after conversion.
• Urban property — flats and sites inside municipal limits are recorded under the khata system, not Bhoomi. See the difference in our khata certificate vs khata extract guide.
• Genuinely missing or disputed record — if every detail is correct and the record still does not appear, visit the taluk office or Nadakacheri with your documents, or file an RTI application to trace the entry.

RTC vs khata vs EC: which document proves what?

Buyers frequently mix these three up, and each answers a different question:

RTC (Pahani) — the revenue record for agricultural land: who holds it, its extent, classification and crops. It is not, by itself, conclusive proof of title, but no agricultural land purchase should proceed without a clean RTC chain.

Khata — the municipal account for urban property tax. An apartment in Bangalore has a khata, not an RTC. E-khata is now the digital standard inside BBMP limits — see the e-Khata online application guide.

Encumbrance Certificate (EC) — the Sub-Registrar's record of registered transactions: sales, mortgages, releases. A clean EC plus a clean RTC together give a reliable picture of an agricultural parcel's history.

What should NRI and out-of-state buyers check on the RTC?

Karnataka restricts who may purchase agricultural land under the Land Reforms Act framework. Before any agreement, confirm on the RTC that the land is genuinely agricultural, check the classification column, and read our guide to Section 79A and 79B agricultural land transfer rules, which explains eligibility, income conditions and the exemptions that apply after the 2020 amendments. Verify the seller's name against the RTC, trace at least 30 years of mutation history, and match survey boundaries with the Mojini sketch before paying any advance.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is RTC and Pahani the same document?
Yes. RTC (Record of Rights, Tenancy and Crops) is the official English name and Pahani is the Kannada name for the identical record maintained by the Karnataka Revenue Department.

Is the free Bhoomi RTC valid for a bank loan?
No. The free on-screen copy is for information only. Banks, courts and government offices require the digitally signed i-RTC downloaded from the portal for a small fee.

How much does a digitally signed i-RTC cost?
A nominal fee of around Rs 10 per extract at the time of writing. The exact current fee is displayed on the portal before payment — treat the portal's figure as final.

How long does mutation take after buying land?
For registered sale deeds, auto-mutation typically updates the RTC within about 15 days of registration. Inheritance and partition mutations require an application to the revenue office and take longer.

Can I get an RTC for a flat or site in Bangalore?
No. RTCs exist only for agricultural land. Urban properties within municipal limits are recorded under the khata system, and converted land moves out of the RTC register.

What is a surnoc?
A letter code attached to a survey number that identifies how the record was created — for example an asterisk for the original entry. It appears as a dropdown on the Bhoomi search and must be selected to fetch the correct record.

Who maintains the RTC?
The village accountant records entries, and the Revenue Department maintains the digital register through the Bhoomi system across all districts of Karnataka.

Can I check old-year Pahanis online?
Yes. The period/year dropdown on the View RTC screen lets you fetch records for earlier years, which is how buyers trace ownership history across decades.

The bottom line

The Bhoomi portal has made the RTC a two-minute check instead of a taluk-office visit: view free at landrecords.karnataka.gov.in, pay a small fee for the digitally signed i-RTC when you need legal validity, and track mutation status on the same portal. Before any agricultural land purchase, read the RTC alongside the EC and mutation history, verify the seller's eligibility under the land reforms framework, and match the survey sketch on the ground. For guidance on a specific parcel anywhere in Karnataka, talk to our advisory team.

How do I correct a wrong entry in my RTC?

Errors in the RTC — a misspelt name, wrong extent, an old loan entry that was repaid, or a missing inheritance — are corrected through the revenue machinery, not the portal:

1. Spelling and clerical errors: apply to the Tahsildar's office (or through the village accountant) with the RTC copy, your identity documents and the supporting deed. Clerical corrections move relatively quickly.
2. Ownership disputes or wrong khatedar: these follow the mutation-objection route. File an objection before the Revenue Inspector during the mutation notice period, or appeal to the Assistant Commissioner if the entry is already certified.
3. Stale loan entries: obtain a no-dues or release letter from the bank or cooperative society and submit it with the correction application, so the liability column is cleared.
4. Extent or boundary errors: request a survey through the Mojini system; the corrected sketch becomes the basis for updating the record.

Keep the acknowledgement of every application. If a correction stalls without a reasoned reply, an RTI application to the Tahsildar's office asking for the file status usually gets it moving.

Can I get an RTC offline without using the portal?

Yes. Every taluk has Bhoomi kiosks and the Nadakacheri (Atalji Janasnehi Kendra) network issues certified RTC copies over the counter for a small fee — carry the survey number and village details. Bangalore One and Karnataka One centres in cities offer the same service. The offline certified copy carries the same validity as the digitally signed i-RTC. For farmers without smartphone access, the village accountant remains the first point of contact for record extracts and corrections.

Free view vs i-RTC: which one do I need?

What do buyers use the RTC for in practice?

Crop loans: banks sanction agricultural credit against the i-RTC, reading the extent and liability columns directly.

Due diligence before purchase: a buyer's lawyer pulls RTCs for the past 30 years plus the mutation register to confirm an unbroken chain of ownership — the agricultural equivalent of a title search. Pair it with the EC application process for the registered-transaction history.

Compensation and acquisition: when government acquires land, compensation is paid to the khatedar on record — another reason mutation must never be left pending after a purchase or inheritance.

Conversion applications: the DC conversion process for building on agricultural land starts with the current RTC, and the guidance value of the parcel drives the conversion fee — check yours with the Kaveri guidance value guide.