Kerala Land Records & Certificates
plain guides to the paperwork
How to get each document a Kerala land transaction asks for — which office issues it, what it costs, how long it takes, and what it does not prove.
Kerala land paperwork runs through four systems: the Revenue eServices portal (ReLIS) for land tax, land conversion and mutation; e-District for Village Office certificates such as possession, location and legal heir; the Registration Department's PEARL for the encumbrance certificate; and Ente Bhoomi with e-Rekha for survey sketches and the digital resurvey record. These guides explain each document, where it comes from and what it is accepted for.
Choose the document you need
Land Tax Kerala Online
Land tax is the smallest bill attached to a piece of Kerala land and the one that causes the most trouble when it lapses. Here is how the payment works now that quick pay has gone, what the rates are, and why the name on the receipt matters more than the amount.
Read the guideBuilding Tax Kerala
Three different taxes in Kerala get called building tax, they are collected by two different departments, and the portal for the commonest one changed recently. Here is which is which.
Read the guideFair Value of Land in Kerala
Fair value is the number the Registration Department will charge duty on whatever you actually paid. It also sets the land conversion fee and the regularisation fee, which makes it worth checking before you agree a price.
Read the guideEncumbrance Certificate Kerala
The EC is the first document a buyer or a bank asks for and the one most often misread. Here is how to get an encumbrance certificate online in Kerala, what the search period costs, and the encumbrances it will never reveal.
Read the guidePossession Certificate Kerala
A bank, a building permit or a land-conversion file will ask for it, usually at the last minute. Here is what the possession certificate proves, how to get one in about a week, and why it is not the same as owning the land.
Read the guideThandaper in Kerala
Every piece of land in Kerala sits in somebody’s thandaper account. Knowing yours, and reading the remarks column, prevents most of the surprises that surface at sale.
Read the guidePokkuvaravu in Kerala
Registering the deed makes you the owner. Pokkuvaravu is what makes the revenue records agree, and since May 2025 part of it has to happen before the sale is registered at all.
Read the guideData Bank Kerala
One entry in a 2008 register decides whether land can be built on. It is the first thing to check before buying, and the thing most buyers discover last.
Read the guideLand Sketch Kerala: FMB, Location and Resurvey Sketches
Every land transaction in Kerala eventually asks for a sketch, and the wrong one costs weeks. Here is how the FMB sketch, the location sketch and certificate, and the digital resurvey sketch differ, and where each comes from.
Read the guideLegal Heir Certificate Kerala
When a landowner dies, the legal heirship certificate (അനന്തരാവകാശ സർട്ടിഫിക്കറ്റ്) is the first paper every bank, pension office and Village Office asks for. Here is how Kerala issues it, what it can and cannot do, and how NRI heirs get one.
Read the guideWould rather someone else stood in the queue?
We obtain these documents for owners in Kerala and for NRIs abroad, through a Power of Attorney where a signature or an appearance is needed.