Presenceless registration of bank mortgage documents mandated from Sept 15

CHENNAI: The Tamil Nadu government has mandated presenceless registration of two documents presented by banks and financial institutions in connection with secured lending, as part of the second phase of the "Anywhere Registration" initiative under Project STAR 3.0.

A Government Order issued by the Commercial Taxes and Registration Department Secretary J Kumaragurubaran on Friday said Deposit of Title Deeds and Deed of Receipt presented by banks and financial institutions would be registered through the Presenceless Registration system with effect from September 15.

The decision follows an announcement made by the Commercial Taxes and Registration Minister in the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly on September 7. The initiative seeks to enable eligible documents to be presented online without requiring the parties to physically visit Sub-Registrar offices.

The Inspector General of Registration had proposed the measure to operationalise the announcement and expand the use of the digital infrastructure established under the Presenceless Registration framework.

A Deposit of Title Deeds is presented for registration when immovable property is offered as security for a loan. A Deed of Receipt is presented upon repayment or discharge of the secured loan to evidence the release of the liability.

The government said mandating their registration through the presenceless system would enable banks and financial institutions to submit the documents electronically without deputing officials to Sub-Registrar offices. The move is also expected to reduce physical footfall and manual intervention, facilitate faster processing, improve traceability of mortgage-related transactions and ensure secure digital preservation of registered documents.

The measure is intended to strengthen safeguards against multiple mortgages over the same property. Banks and financial institutions have been asked to ensure that the registered Memorandum of Deposit of Title Deeds or mortgage entry is reflected in the Encumbrance Certificate.

The system also incorporates security features such as the digital signature of the registering authority, a QR code on every page and digital availability of registered documents to ensure their authenticity and traceability.