Patta Chitta in Tamil Nadu: Patta, A-Register, FMB and How a Patta Transfer Works

A patta is Tamil Nadu's revenue record of who holds a piece of land; the chitta recorded its classification and extent, and since 2015 both sit on one document. You can view and verify it free on eservices.tn.gov.in, alongside the A-register and the FMB sketch, and a sale of a whole survey number can now update the patta automatically after registration.

Key takeaways

• Tamil Nadu stopped issuing a separate chitta in 2015. The single patta document now carries the holder, survey number, classification and extent.
• Viewing the patta, A-register extract, FMB sketch and TSLR extract on the state's e-services portal costs nothing. Check the reference number or QR code on any copy the seller hands you.
• Inside surveyed towns, including most of core Chennai, the record is the Town Survey Land Register (TSLR), not a rural patta.
• If the seller holds an individual patta and sells the whole parcel with no change in extent, the patta moves to you automatically after registration. Anything else needs an online transfer application, free on TamilNilam or Rs 60 at a Common Service Centre.
• A patta is evidence of revenue ownership, not title. Pair it with a long-period encumbrance certificate from TNREGINET and the chain of registered deeds.

Four records, one piece of land

"Get the patta chitta" sounds like one check. In practice a Chennai lawyer asks for several records on a plot, each answering a different question, and getting them to agree with the sale deed is most of the work.

Patta versus chitta, and why the distinction faded

Before 2015, the patta named the holder and the survey number, while the chitta was a separate village record showing the land's type (nanjai or wet, punjai or dry) and extent. Because they overlapped, the state merged them. Older files may hold both papers; a separate chitta dated after 2015 deserves a question.

The A-register is the village ledger

The A-register is the village's permanent account of every survey field: its classification, assessment, extent and the particulars fixed at settlement. Where the patta tells you who, the A-register tells you what. It is where a government classification such as poramboke (common land for tanks, channels, roads or grazing) first shows up.

The FMB is the map

The Field Measurement Book sketch is a scaled drawing of each survey number and its sub-divisions, with side lengths and angles. Older sketches use chains and links; resurveyed ones use metres. When the fence on the ground and the FMB disagree, the FMB is the reference a surveyor works from.

Rural patta, natham patta or TSLR: which one applies in Chennai

• Rural patta: agricultural and fringe land in revenue villages. Much plotted land along GST Road and OMR traces to one.
• Natham patta: land in the village habitation area (grama natham), recorded in its own register.
• TSLR: land in towns that went through a town survey, based on work done in the 1980s and 1990s. Chennai, Coimbatore and Madurai are examples; a rural search there finds nothing.

The e-services portal has separate menus for rural/natham and town records, so pick the right one before concluding a record "doesn't exist". For other states, our guide to checking land records online covers Bhulekh, Bhoomi, Mahabhumi and the rest.

How to view and verify the records online

1. Open eservices.tn.gov.in and choose "View Patta & FMB / Chitta / TSLR Extract".
2. Select the district, taluk and village (or town, ward and block for TSLR), then search by survey number and sub-division, or by patta number.
3. Complete the OTP step, view the record and download the FMB sketch.
4. Open "View A-Register Extract" for the same survey number and compare classification and extent.
5. Run "Verify Government / Private Land" (the poramboke check) on the survey number.
6. Use "Verify Patta" with the reference number printed on the seller's copy, or scan its QR code.
7. On tnreginet.gov.in, view the encumbrance certificate. Online EC records generally run from 1987; a bank typically asks for 13 years, but for a purchase you want the full 30-year picture.

Extent on a patta is printed as hectares, ares and square metres. A reading of 0-02-23 means 0 hectares, 2 ares and 23 square metres, or 223 sq m. See our land measurement units page for conversions.

Transferring the patta after you buy

When it happens automatically

Automatic transfer applies when the seller held an individual patta, the whole parcel is sold with no sub-division, and the extent is unchanged. A revised Government Order dated 25 June 2024 extended it to sale deeds executed jointly by the pattadhar and family members.

When you must apply

Everything else goes through "Apply Online Patta Transfer", which redirects to the TamilNilam citizen portal: a sale of part of a survey number, a joint patta, inheritance, partition or a gift. You upload the registered sale deed, the EC, the seller's patta, ID proof and tax receipts. The VAO checks village records, a Revenue Inspector or surveyor inspects and updates the FMB where land is being split, and the Tahsildar approves and signs.

• Cost: filing on TamilNilam yourself is free; a Common Service Centre charges Rs 60 per application. Where a sub-division is involved, the sub-division fee is paid online with the application. Third-party sites quote different amounts, so go by the payment screen.
• Time: routine sale-based transfers commonly close in 15 to 30 days.
• Errors: a wrong name spelling or extent is corrected at the taluk; a dispute over who owns the land goes to the Revenue Divisional Officer.

Worked example: a "six-cent" plot off GST Road

A seller offers a plot as "6 cents" at an illustrative Rs 6 lakh per cent, so Rs 36 lakh. The patta, A-register and FMB for the sub-division all show 0-02-23, which is 223 sq m.

• One cent is one-hundredth of an acre: 435.6 sq ft, or about 40.47 sq m.
• Six cents would be 6 × 40.47 = about 243 sq m.
• The recorded 223 sq m is 223 ÷ 40.47 = 5.51 cents.
• The shortfall is 0.49 cents, or 0.49 × 435.6 = about 213 sq ft.
• At Rs 6 lakh per cent, 5.51 cents is worth about Rs 33.06 lakh. Paying for 6 cents means about Rs 2.94 lakh too much.

Because the plot is part of a larger survey number, the transfer will not be automatic: it needs sub-division, an FMB update and a manual application. Insist the sale deed uses the same sub-division number and extent as the revenue records. Stamp duty is 7% of the higher of the price and the guideline value. Sources disagree on the registration fee for a sale deed, some giving 2% and others 4%, so confirm on TNREGINET; our stamp duty guide compares the states.

Where the records can let you down

• A patta is not title. Ownership rests on the registered deeds. Run a 30-year search, as our title and legal check guide explains.
• UDR-era errors. Village land was resurveyed under the Updating Registry scheme between 1985 and 1987, with new pattas and survey numbers. It introduced wrong names, sub-divisions and classifications, and the 2003 computerisation added more; a 2016 PIL before the High Court's Madurai bench pointed to both. Old survey numbers in the parent deed may not match the patta.
• Forged pattas on government land. A fake patta over poramboke land is the commonest fraud, and such a patta is void. The A-register and the government-land check catch most.
• Flats. An apartment buyer usually does not get an individual patta. You own an undivided share (UDS) of the land, shown in a joint or parent patta.
• Layout approval is a separate question. A clean patta on a plot in an unapproved layout still leaves you without building approval or a bank loan. Read our note on unapproved colony plots before you pay an advance.

Frequently asked questions

Is chitta still issued in Tamil Nadu?

No. The state merged the chitta into the patta in 2015, so one document now shows the holder, survey number, classification and extent. Portals and bank checklists still say patta chitta out of habit. When a lender asks for it, what you download from eservices.tn.gov.in is the current combined patta record for the survey number.

Does a Chennai apartment buyer get a patta?

Usually not an individual one. The land under a building is owned jointly, and each buyer holds an undivided share. Your name may be added to a joint patta, which is sufficient. What matters is that the parent patta is clean and matches the builder's title, and that your sale deed states your UDS in square feet.

How do I know the seller's patta is genuine?

Use the Verify Patta service on the e-services portal with the reference number printed on the copy, or scan its QR code, and compare the result line by line. Then pull the patta yourself by survey number. A typed extract without a reference number cannot be verified and should not be accepted.

What is the difference between a patta and the A-register?

The patta records who holds the land and how much. The A-register is the village ledger for each survey field, showing its classification (wet, dry, natham, government) and settlement particulars. Read them together: a patta in a private name over a field the A-register classes as poramboke is a red flag.

How much does a patta transfer cost?

Filing online through TamilNilam yourself is free, and a Common Service Centre charges Rs 60 per application. A sale of a whole survey number by an individual pattadhar, with extent unchanged, is transferred automatically after registration. If the land has to be split, a sub-division fee is also paid online with the application.

If you have a patta, A-register or FMB for land in Chennai and the numbers don't quite line up, send them to us and we'll help you work out what to ask before you pay.