What is an encumbrance certificate?

An encumbrance certificate is a government record of every registered claim on a property, for the years you choose.

Written 21 September 2026. For bankers in India.

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In one line

An encumbrance certificate lists every sale, mortgage, gift or court order on a property. It covers only the years you choose.

Why it matters to you

• It is the first check on security. You read it before you trust a property as loan security.
• A clean certificate is not full proof. It can still miss real claims on the property.
• The fee and form differ by state. Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Telangana each set their own rules.
• A missed old mortgage is a real loss. The bank may find its charge is not the first one.
• It works with other checks, not alone. A title search report and a valuation report sit beside it.

How it works

1. You give the property details. Survey number, address, and the years you want checked.
2. The office searches its own books. It looks for every deed registered on that property.
3. It issues Form 15 or Form 16. Form 15 lists what it found. Form 16 says it found nothing.
4. You pay a search fee. The fee usually rises with each extra year you ask for.
5. You read the entries, not just the form number. Check the document type, date and parties on each one.

Worked examples

Example 1: a 13-year search in Karnataka

A bank orders a certificate for a resale flat, for the last 13 years, through the Kaveri Online portal.

• Application fee: Rs 10.
• Search fee for year one: Rs 30.
• Search fee for 12 more years, at Rs 10 each: Rs 120.
• Total: Rs 10 + Rs 30 + Rs 120 = Rs 160.

Example 2: a 30-year search on the same portal

The same bank asks for the full 30-year search instead, on a larger loan.

• Application fee: Rs 10.
• Search fee for year one: Rs 30.
• Search fee for 29 more years, at Rs 10 each: Rs 290.
• Total: Rs 10 + Rs 30 + Rs 290 = Rs 330.

The extra 17 years of search cost Rs 170 more. Only the years asked for change the fee.

A quick state comparison

These are the figures our sources gave on 21 September 2026. A state can change its own fee at any time.

What the rule says

NO RBI NUMBER: the Reserve Bank of India does not fix this certificate. It does not fix the form, the fee or the search period. This sits with the Registration Act, 1908, and with the rules each state makes under it.

Section 57 of that Act gives a right to inspect certain registration books. It also gives a right to a signed copy, on payment of a fee. The Act itself does not use the words "encumbrance certificate". States gave that name to the copy, in their own registration rules, and many use Form 15 and Form 16 for it.

We checked the current Reserve Bank of India rule for housing finance companies. It has no paragraph on the certificate, its search years, or its fee. It sets a separate rule on property valuation instead, at its paragraph 215.

BANK PRACTICE: a bank's own credit policy sets how many years it wants checked, often 13 years or 30 years. Your bank's policy decides this, not a Reserve Bank of India number.

Common mistakes

• Reading "Nil" as "no risk at all". It only means no registered entry was found, not that none exists.
• Treating the certificate as the whole title check. A title search report checks far more than this one paper.
• Forgetting an equitable mortgage will not show. A deposit of title deeds needs no registered deed to be valid.
• Asking for too short a search on a large loan. A longer search catches an old, unreleased mortgage.
• Not checking the exact years printed on the form. A gap of even one year can hide a claim.

How to use it at your desk

1. Confirm your bank's required search period for this loan type.
2. Apply through the state portal where one exists, for a faster result.
3. Read every entry, not only the Form 15 or Form 16 label.
4. Check the certificate's own dates match the years you asked for.
5. Cross-check it against the title search report, not on its own.
6. Flag any registered entry you cannot explain, before you disburse.

Related terms

• Title search report — checks far more than this certificate; the certificate is only one input to it.
• Mortgage types — a clean certificate is checked before any of these kinds of mortgage is made.
• Mortgage by deposit of title deeds — this kind of mortgage often will not appear on a certificate.
• Loan to Value ratio — set on the same property this certificate is meant to help clear.
• Product rule pages: Housing loan rules, Housing Finance Companies Directions 2025.

Quick check

Does a "Nil" encumbrance certificate prove the property has no claim on it at all?

Answer: No. It only means no registered entry was found in the years searched.

Does the Reserve Bank of India fix the search period for this certificate?

Answer: No. Each state sets its own rule, and each bank sets its own policy.

Will an equitable mortgage, made by deposit of title deeds, show on this certificate?

Answer: Usually not. That kind of mortgage needs no registered deed to be valid.

Sources

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