Telangana Property Owners Face Registration Hurdles as Lands Land on Prohibited List

For many property owners in Telangana, the final step of selling a plot or an apartment has become an unexpected dead end. Despite having valid documents and a willing buyer, they are being told that their land is on a prohibited list under Section 22A of the Registration Act — often for the first time.

One such owner is Udayagiri Prasad, a 40-year-old mason from Narapally in Medchal-Malkajgiri district. Prasad had purchased a 66.8-square-yard residential plot in Survey No. 58 at Kachavanisingaram village several years ago. When his niece's wedding approached, he decided to sell the property to repay a ₹10 lakh loan he owed to his elder brother. But when he approached the Narapally Sub-Registrar Office (SRO), officials refused to register the sale, informing him that the land was included in the prohibited list maintained under Section 22A of the Registration Act.

“I have all ownership documents but cannot sell my own property. I had to mortgage the property's title documents to secure a private loan,” Prasad said.

Across Hyderabad and surrounding districts, owners of residential plots, apartments, independent houses and private patta lands are facing similar hurdles after discovering that their properties have been brought under the prohibited list. The restriction often comes to light only after a buyer has been identified, a sale agreement signed and the parties approach the SRO to complete the registration.

Mekala Harshavardhan, 28, of Boduppal, ran into a similar problem. His sister and brother-in-law, a defence official posted in Kashmir, had purchased residential plots measuring 200 and 100 square yards in Survey No. 44 of Peerzadiguda village in Medchal-Malkajgiri. He says the Uppal SRO refused to register the properties after finding that the entire survey number was categorised as Urban Land Ceiling (ULC) land under the prohibited list.

On July 29, the Sub-Registrar wrote to the District Collector seeking clarification on whether plot no. 13 (Part) in Survey No. 44 could be registered or whether it was covered under Section 22A(1)(d). Verification of the Prohibition Watch Register reportedly showed that the entire extent of about 1.58 lakh square yards in Survey No. 44 stood notified as ULC land in the name of D. Malla Reddy. The registration process has been kept on hold, pending clarification from the Collector.

The problem extends beyond vacant plots. A resident of Peerzadiguda approached the Medchal-Malkajgiri District Collector after registration of her apartment in Survey No. 43 was refused because the entire survey number had been classified as ULC land. Following her representation, the Uppal SRO advised her to obtain a no objection certificate (NOC) from the Collector's office before registration could be permitted.

Residents in several parts of the district, including Alwal, say similar issues have affected apartments and independent houses.

Section 22A of the Registration Act was introduced to prevent the illegal registration of government lands, water bodies, forest lands, endowment properties, waqf lands and other protected public assets. It empowers the government to notify lands where registrations are prohibited, preventing fraudulent transfers and safeguarding public property.

Property owners and real estate representatives, however, contend that poor land records and weak coordination between departments have resulted in genuine private lands also being included in the prohibited list.

Officials familiar with the process said district administrations were asked to update records of prohibited lands about three-and-a-half months ago. In several cases, revenue authorities reportedly furnished only survey numbers instead of identifying the exact extent under government ownership. As a result, entire survey numbers — including private holdings — have been flagged, leaving owners unable to register legitimate transactions.