An encumbrance certificate in Delhi is what buyers from Chennai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Pune ask for first. Delhi has no Tamil Nadu-style EC listing every registered transaction on a property, but it does have an SDM-issued non-encumbrance certificate, free online searches of registered deeds, and separate checks that together do the job. Here is what exists and how we run a title search on a South Delhi builder floor.
Yes, but not in the form most buyers expect. Delhi does not issue a transaction-by-transaction EC of the kind Tamil Nadu (Form 15 and Form 16), Karnataka or Telangana produce from their registration portals. What Delhi offers is a free online search of past registrations through the Revenue Department’s DORIS and NGDRS systems, certified copies of registered deeds from the sub-registrar, and a non-encumbrance certificate issued by the SDM, which needs affidavits from the owner and two advocates and is normally issued within 21 days. None of these shows a loan secured by deposit of title deeds, which never reaches the sub-registrar. So a Delhi title search is a stack: sub-registrar records, a CERSAI search for bank mortgages, an MCA charge search if a company is involved, court-case searches, MCD property tax, DDA or L&DO status for leasehold land, a lawyer’s report on a 30-year chain, a public notice and the seller’s indemnity.
The encumbrance certificate in Delhi is less one document than a method. Below: why Delhi’s records work differently, the Delhi equivalent of every EC item, and our title search on a typical South Delhi floor. The deal sequence is in our builder-floor buying checklist.
In the southern states the EC is a by-product of how registration offices index their records. Tamil Nadu’s registration department, for instance, issues Form 15, which lists every registered transaction — sale, mortgage, gift, partition, lease — on a survey number for the period asked, and Form 16, a nil certificate where there is none; its records from 1975 onward can be viewed on the TNREGINET portal.
Delhi’s sub-registrar records have historically been searched mainly by party name, deed number and date, not as a property-wise ledger. The Registration Act, 1908 still governs: under Section 57, Book No. 1 (non-testamentary documents relating to immovable property, which is where sale deeds and registered mortgages sit) and its index are open to inspection by any person on payment of the fee, and the registering officer gives certified copies of entries. Delhi gives you that right to inspect and copy; it does not compile the result into a certificate for you.
Two recent changes matter. First, Delhi moved registration onto the central National Generic Document Registration System (NGDRS); the Lieutenant Governor’s office said in August 2024 it was in use across all of Delhi’s then 22 sub-registrar offices, with documents retrievable by deed number, PAN or property number (reported by The Tribune). Delhi raised its sub-registrar offices to 39 in September 2026. Second, the Revenue Department’s registration information page now lists an “Encumbrance Search”, e-search modules for documents registered before 1993 and from 2002 onward, a DORIS deed-document search and a DORIS “prohibited property” list, and states that there is no fee for searching details of past registrations. They are a useful first pass, but older coverage is patchy and no search result carries the weight of a certified copy.
The most common home loan in India is a mortgage by deposit of title deeds (Section 58(f) of the Transfer of Property Act). The owner hands the original sale deed to the bank; nothing is registered with the sub-registrar. A Delhi search — and, for the same reason, a southern-state EC — will show that floor as clean. That mortgage shows up only in the lender’s filing with CERSAI, or in the fact that the seller cannot produce the original deed.
DORIS e-search finds documents registered at Delhi sub-registrar offices by owner name, registration number or date; the NGDRS portal (ngdrs.delhi.gov.in) has a citizen e-search for the new system. Use both; paper-era volumes may need a physical search. Run every name in the chain, including the builder.
Under Section 57 you can apply at the sub-registrar office with jurisdiction over the colony to inspect the index and obtain a certified copy of any registered sale deed, conveyance or mortgage deed. A certified copy is admissible to prove the original’s contents and is the best defence against a forged or altered deed. Copy fees are set by the department.
Delhi’s Revenue Department does issue a non-encumbrance certificate through the office of the SDM where the property is located. The applicant files a plain-paper application with the ownership document (sale deed or GPA), proof of a Delhi address, their own affidavit on ownership and freedom from encumbrance, an affidavit from two advocates that the property is free from encumbrance, and a copy of the letter from the authority that wants the certificate. The sub-registrar where the deed was registered reports on it, and the certificate is normally issued within 21 days if the report is favourable; a second Revenue Department page states no fee is required. It is applied for by the owner, not the buyer, and rests on affidavits and registered records, so it shares the deposit-of-title-deeds blind spot. Treat it as supporting evidence, not a substitute for a search.
The same Revenue Department page treats court cases — revenue courts, district courts, High Court, Supreme Court — as part of checking non-encumbrance, and links the sajra map and khatauni record of rights for revenue villages. These matter in urban villages, far less in planned colonies.
| What an EC shows elsewhere | How it is checked in Delhi | Who does it / note |
|---|---|---|
| Registered sales and conveyances in the period | DORIS / NGDRS e-search by names in the chain; certified copies of each deed from the sub-registrar | Buyer’s lawyer; search is free, certified copies carry a fee |
| Registered mortgages | Same sub-registrar search for registered mortgage deeds | Lawyer; rare on residential floors, because banks prefer deposit of title deeds |
| Mortgage by deposit of title deeds (not on any EC) | CERSAI asset-based or borrower (PAN) search; original deeds in the seller’s hands; bank foreclosure letter if a loan is running | Lawyer or buyer’s bank; about ₹10 plus GST per search |
| Charges created by a company seller or builder (not on any EC) | Index of charges on the MCA portal for the company’s CIN | Lawyer or CA; essential where the builder or seller is a company or LLP |
| Gifts, partitions, relinquishments, leases | Sub-registrar search and certified copies; family documents produced by the seller | Lawyer; critical on inherited floors |
| Court attachments and pending suits (partly, if registered) | e-Courts party-name search in Delhi district courts; Delhi High Court case status; revenue court records | Lawyer; search seller, past owners and builder |
| Government prohibitions | DORIS prohibited-property list | Lawyer; also confirms the property is not notified or acquired |
| Municipal dues (not on any EC) | MCD property tax record by property ID / UPIC; paid-up receipts | Buyer; arrears follow the property |
| Lessor’s rights on leasehold land (not on any EC) | DDA or L&DO record of the lease, conversion to freehold, mutation and dues | Lawyer; relevant to leasehold plots and flats |
| Unregistered claims: agreements to sell, GPAs, family disputes (not on any EC) | Public notice in two newspapers; seller’s non-encumbrance affidavit and indemnity in the sale deed | Buyer’s lawyer drafts; seller signs |
A southern EC was never a complete title search either; it showed registered documents only.
A realistic file: the second floor of a stilt-plus-four building on a 300 sq yd plot in Greater Kailash, ₹9 crore, built in 2022 under a collaboration between the plot-owning family and a builder, and bought from the builder by the present seller in 2023. Our lawyers follow this sequence between token and balance.
Original sale deed in the seller’s favour, the builder’s chain documents, collaboration agreement and GPA, sanctioned plan, completion or occupancy certificate, MCD tax receipts, mutation record, and utility papers. A missing original deed usually means a bank.
Trace the plot back through every transfer — original allotment or perpetual lease, conversion to freehold, inheritance, partition or relinquishment within the family — to roughly thirty years. Each link must be registered or a valid succession record. A link that rests only on an agreement to sell, GPA and will does not pass title; the Supreme Court said so in Suraj Lamp & Industries v State of Haryana (2011), reported at (2012) 1 SCC 656. Our guide to sale deeds, agreements to sell and GPAs explains why.
On a builder floor the plot owner usually keeps some floors and the builder gets the rest, and the builder’s floors are sold under the collaboration agreement and a power of attorney. Check that this floor fell in the builder’s share, the GPA authorised the sale, the owners joined the deed where required, and the undivided land share, roof and stilt rights passed with it. The mechanics are in our collaboration agreement guide.
Run DORIS and NGDRS searches on every name in the chain and take certified copies of the key deeds. Match numbers, dates, stamp duty and property schedules. An untraceable deed is a forgery until proved otherwise.
A CERSAI search by property and by the seller’s PAN shows security interests filed by banks and housing finance companies. If the builder or any past owner is a company or LLP, pull its index of charges on the MCA portal: a project loan on the plot can outlive individual floor sales.
Party-name searches on the e-Courts services portal for the Saket and other relevant district courts, and on the Delhi High Court’s case status, for the seller, the builder and the plot owners.
Confirm property tax is paid and assessed on the correct floor — see our note on MCD property tax. If the plot is on DDA or L&DO land, confirm conversion to freehold or that lease terms, permissions and dues are in order; the difference is set out in our freehold vs leasehold guide.
A notice in an English and a Hindi daily inviting objections (commonly within 7 to 15 days) flushes out unregistered agreements, family claimants and lenders holding deeds.
The lawyer issues a written title report listing the chain, documents verified and any qualifications. The seller signs a non-encumbrance affidavit, and the sale deed carries covenants that the floor is free of encumbrances, with an indemnity for loss from any defect. Common questions on this stage are in our legal-title FAQs. If a loan is being taken, the bank’s empanelled advocate runs a parallel search; see our home loan guide.
Many South Delhi resales carry a loan — a sequencing problem, not a defect. The buyer’s lawyer obtains the lender’s outstanding statement and a list of documents it holds; part of the price goes directly to the lender against release of the original deeds; the CERSAI entry is satisfied after closure; and the deed is registered once the originals are in hand or under a tripartite arrangement the buyer’s bank accepts. Make the token money receipt conditional on clean title.
Buyers from Chennai ask me for the EC and I tell them the truth: the most dangerous loan on a Delhi floor is the one no register shows. Ask for the original deed, then search everything else.
There is no single fee. The figures below are SouthDelhiFloors desk observations from South Delhi transactions in 2026 and vary with the length of the chain and the lawyer.
| Check | Typical time | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| DORIS / NGDRS e-search | Same day | Free, per the Revenue Department |
| Certified copies of deeds | A few working days per office | Departmental fee per copy |
| CERSAI search | Minutes, online | About ₹10 plus GST per search |
| SDM non-encumbrance certificate (if required) | Normally within 21 days (official) | No fee listed by the Revenue Department; affidavit costs extra |
| Public notice in two papers | 7–15 days for objections | Depends on newspaper and size |
| Lawyer’s title search and report | About 1–3 weeks overall | A professional fee, often in the tens of thousands of rupees on a crore-plus floor |
On a ₹9 crore floor it costs a small fraction of one percent and fits inside the usual token-to-registry window. If you are buying from abroad, our NRI buying guide covers how to run it through a power of attorney.
That the building is legal — sanction, deviations and completion are a separate check. That the seller’s family agrees — on inherited floors every legal heir must have signed, relinquished or been accounted for. That the floor is mutated — MCD records may still show a previous owner; see our guide to mutation of property in Delhi.
We run the Delhi version of an EC on every floor we transact, with your lawyer. Send us the address and we will tell you what the file needs.
Sources and notes: Delhi Revenue Department pages on registration information and the non-encumbrance certificate (accessed October 2026); Section 57 of the Registration Act, 1908; Section 58(f) of the Transfer of Property Act, 1882; the SARFAESI Act, 2002 and CERSAI public search; the Companies Act, 2013 on registration of charges; Suraj Lamp & Industries v State of Haryana (Supreme Court, 2011). The NGDRS rollout across Delhi’s then 22 sub-registrar offices is from the LG office’s August 2024 statement (The Tribune; also reported by Ghar.tv). Figures marked desk observation are SouthDelhiFloors practice figures for South Delhi, October 2026. Portal features change; confirm on the official site. General information, not legal advice.
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