What is property card?
Also called: malmatta patrak, city survey property card, CTS property card, UPOR card
A property card is the land record for plots in areas that have been through a city survey, most commonly in Maharashtra, where it replaces the 7/12 extract once a village becomes urban. It records the CTS number, area, holder's name and any charges on the land.
Anyone buying in Mumbai, Thane or older parts of Pune will run into CTS numbers rather than survey numbers. When the government carries out a city survey, each parcel gets a City Survey (CTS) number, and the record moves from the 7/12 to the property card kept by the City Survey Officer or Superintendent of Land Records. The card shows the area in square metres, the tenure (how the land is held), the holder, and entries for any lease, charge or government interest in the land.
The property card matters most for redevelopment and for buyers of bungalows, chawl plots and old buildings. A developer taking up a society redevelopment in Vile Parle, for example, must show that the society or the landowner is on the property card. If the card still carries the name of a landlord from 1960, the society's first job is conveyance, and your new flat's title depends on it.
Maharashtra's digitally signed property cards are available through the Mahabhumi digital services, alongside the 7/12. Gujarat's city survey areas have property cards on a similar pattern, and Karnataka issued Urban Property Ownership Records (UPOR) cards in some cities, though that project has had a patchy run.
When the property card and the building's documents disagree about area, trust neither until it's resolved. A difference of a few square metres between the card and the approved plan can hold up an occupancy certificate or a redevelopment.
A housing society in Chembur on CTS number 1502 plans redevelopment. The property card still lists the original developer as holder because deemed conveyance was never done, so the society has to file for deemed conveyance before any redevelopment agreement can be signed.
Assuming a flat in an old building has clear land title because the society exists. Check the property card; many Mumbai societies never got conveyance of the land.
Questions people ask about property card
What is a CTS number?
CTS stands for City Survey. The CTS number identifies a land parcel in areas covered by a city survey, much like a survey number does in rural areas.
Do I need a property card to buy a flat?
You don't hold one yourself, but your lawyer should check the building land's property card to see who holds the land and whether conveyance to the society has happened.