Tamil Nadu government ups reforms in Registration department, scraps Saturday duty for offices

CHENNAI: The State government has unveiled a sweeping set of reforms in the Registration department, combining digital registration, technology upgrades and administrative changes aimed at making property and other document registration services faster, more accessible and less dependent on physical visits to government offices.

Under the reforms, 25 Model Registration Hubs will be established with modern infrastructure to reduce queues and congestion at sub-registrar offices. The first phase will cover North Chennai, Central Chennai, South Chennai, Chengalpattu and Coimbatore North, with citizens able to access services through the hubs or the concerned sub-registrar offices.

The department will also provide additional staff, computers and advanced scanners to 25 high-volume sub-registrar offices, enabling registered documents to be scanned and returned immediately after registration. The department will simultaneously rationalise sub-registrar office boundaries to keep each revenue village within a single registration jurisdiction and distribute workload more evenly.

IIT-Madras has been selected as the technical consultant to improve the speed, load-bearing capacity and security of the STAR 2.0/3.0 registration software, which handles about 35 lakh documents a year.

From September 15, registration of title-deed deposit and receipt documents relating to loans from banks and non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) will be made mandatory through presenceless registration. The department plans to bring all eligible registrations progressively under this system.

From October 15, settlement, release, partition and revocation of settlement deeds will be compulsorily moved to a paperless registration system. Around 5.4 lakh such family arrangement deeds are registered annually.

API-based integration will enable real-time verification of death and legal-heir certificates to curb fraudulent registrations. Another API link will allow the HR&CE department and Waqf Board to update prohibited-land records directly in STAR.

A Data Analytics Cell will analyse registration data, guideline values and geospatial information to support evidence-based policy decisions.

The department will also facilitate direct delivery of digitally generated copies of certificates registered since 2018 after e-payment, while allocating funds to train senior registration officials in evolving legal procedures and technologies.

With the presenceless registration initiative being expanded, compulsory Saturday duty at 100 sub-registrar offices will be discontinued. The offices will function on weekdays, with the move intended to reduce officials' workload and prevent disruption to other administrative work.