How to Get an Encumbrance Certificate in West Bengal (2026 Guide)
In short (2026): West Bengal's registration portal does not offer a one-click "Encumbrance Certificate" service. The official site is now igr.wb.gov.in (the old wbregistration.gov.in address redirects there). To check encumbrances online, you search the deed index under Searching Deed, by property details or by party name. You run a second search for pre-digitisation deeds under the Legacy Deed options. Then you check CERSAI for bank mortgages that never reach the deed register. For a document a bank or court will accept, you order certified copies of the deeds you find.
Most guides online copy the southern-state model into West Bengal: "log in, fill Form 22, get Form 15 or Form 16 in three days." The official West Bengal portal does not work that way. This guide follows the real portal, step by step, and shows where a search can come back empty when deeds do exist.
What does an "EC" mean in West Bengal?
An encumbrance check answers one question: which registered deeds touch this property, and is any of them a mortgage or charge that is still open?
In most southern states, the Sub-Registrar issues this answer as a certificate. In West Bengal, the same answer comes from the deed index kept by the Directorate of Registration and Stamp Revenue. The portal lets you search that index yourself. You get a list of deeds with the deed number, year and registration office. You then pull the deeds that matter as certified copies.
So, in West Bengal, "getting an EC" in practice means three things:
- A deed search for the property, over the full period you need (30 years is the usual title standard).
- A mortgage search on CERSAI, because some loans never appear as a registered deed.
- Certified copies of the key deeds, so the result holds up with a bank or a court.
For the general concept, see our complete guide to encumbrance certificates in India.
How do I search for deeds on a West Bengal property online?
Go to https://igr.wb.gov.in. The old address, wbregistration.gov.in, now shows a "Website Moved" page that points to the new URL.
Under Searching Deed, the portal offers these searches:
| Search | Use it when | What you enter |
|---|---|---|
| By Transacted Property Details | You know where the property is | District, registration office, mouza, plot (dag) number, khatian number |
| By Seller/Buyer/Party Name | You know who owned it | The name of a seller, buyer or other party |
| Search by Deed No & Query No | You hold a deed and want its record | Deed number and year |
| By Transacted Property Details (Legacy Deed) | The deed is older and was digitised later | Property details, as above |
| By Seller/Buyer/Party Name (Legacy Deed) | Same, by name | Party name |
| Searching of Mortgage information from CERSAI | You want to check for bank charges | Opens the CERSAI search |
Run all of them, not one. Each search reads a different slice of the index. A property search can miss a deed that a name search finds, and the reverse. A modern search can miss a deed that only the legacy search holds.
Tips that save a wasted search:
- Take the mouza, JL number, plot and khatian from the khatian (Record of Rights), not from memory. You can pull the khatian on Banglarbhumi.
- Search each name in every spelling you have seen. "Chatterjee" and "Chattopadhyay" can be the same family in different deeds.
- Search every owner in the chain, not only the current seller. A mortgage by the previous owner is the one buyers miss most often.
Why does my West Bengal deed search show nothing when I know the property was sold?
This is the question that matters most, because an empty result looks like a clean result. In West Bengal there are three common causes.
1. The deed sits in the legacy index, not the modern one. Older deeds were entered into the system later, from physical volumes. The portal keeps them under separate Legacy Deed searches. If you run only the modern search, a pre-digitisation sale or mortgage does not show.
2. The legacy entry was keyed wrongly. This is the mechanism most guides never mention. The portal itself has a full "Request for Correction (Legacy Deed)" process. Through it, a citizen asks the department to correct a legacy deed's mouza, plot number, khatian number, party names or page numbers. That process exists because legacy index data has errors. If a deed was indexed under the wrong plot or mouza, a property search for the right plot will not find it. A name search often will.
3. The property identity changed. Plot numbers and khatian numbers change across survey rounds (CS, RS and LR). A deed registered under an older plot number will not match a search on the current LR plot. Search the old numbers as well. The khatian and older deeds usually show them.
The check: if any deed you already hold (the seller's own purchase deed, for example) does not appear in your search results, your search is incomplete. Do not treat the result as a clean nil. Re-run it by name and by the legacy options. If it still fails, ask the registration office. For the same test in other states, see an EC gap year: genuine nil or missing record.
What is a JL number?
JL stands for Jurisdiction List number. It is a fixed number given to each mouza (revenue village) in a district list. West Bengal gazette notifications that set police station boundaries list each mouza with its "J.L. No. (Jurisdiction List No.)".
It is not a Kolkata Municipal Corporation property number. KMC uses premises and assessee numbers. The JL number tells you which mouza you mean, because two mouzas can share a name. Copy it from the khatian or the deed schedule.
How do I check for a mortgage that is not on the deed register?
A deed search shows registered mortgages. Many home loans are not registered mortgages. They are equitable mortgages by deposit of title deeds (section 58(f), Transfer of Property Act): the owner hands the original deeds to the bank. No mortgage deed is registered, so nothing appears in the deed index.
Banks record these charges on CERSAI, the central registry. The West Bengal portal links to it directly, under "Searching of Mortgage information from CERSAI". Run a CERSAI asset search on the property before you pay any advance.
A warning sign: the seller has only photocopies, or says the originals are "with a relative". That often means the originals are with a bank. Read seller has only a photocopy of the mother deed.
If you find an old mortgage with no release deed, see an old mortgage that was never cancelled: live loan or stale entry.
How do I get a certified copy that a bank will accept?
A screenshot of a search result is a working note. It is not evidence. For a bank, a lawyer or a court, order certified copies of the deeds that matter.
On igr.wb.gov.in, use Certified Copy of Deed. For older deeds, use "Check Availability of Certified Copy of Legacy Deed" first. Not every legacy deed is available online yet. If yours is not, apply at the registration office that holds the volume.
The portal does not publish a fixed fee table for searches and copies that we could verify. Fee tables on third-party sites contradict each other. The portal or the registration office calculates the fee when you apply. Trust that figure, not a blog table.
For the wider process, see lost property documents: certified copies.
What can a clean West Bengal deed search not tell you?
| Risk | Why the deed search misses it | Where to check |
|---|---|---|
| Pending court case (lis pendens) | A lawsuit is never registered as a deed. A buyer is still bound by it from the date the case is filed (section 52, Transfer of Property Act). | A name search in court records. See our lis pendens guide. |
| Deposit-of-deeds mortgage | No mortgage deed is registered | CERSAI |
| Unregistered agreement or power of attorney | Not in the register | Ask the seller in writing, check possession |
| Revenue record mismatch | The deed index is not the khatian | Banglarbhumi khatian and mutation status. See our mutation guide. |
| Wrongly indexed legacy deed | Wrong plot, mouza or name in the index | Name search, legacy search, and the deeds you already hold |
How LegiScore helps on West Bengal property
LegiScore runs these West Bengal searches automatically from the official portals (Banglarbhumi, WB Registration and WBRERA):
- Record of Rights (khatian)
- Plot (dag) information
- Mutation status
- Deed search by party name
- Market value (circle value)
- WBRERA and HIRA project records
- KMC property tax
The report puts these records side by side. Name mismatches, plot changes and missing links in the chain become visible. Three human-review checkpoints follow: document analysis, missing-document review and risk acknowledgement. We do not issue a government encumbrance certificate. Certified copies and the CERSAI search stay part of your own checklist, and the report tells you what is still open.
See LegiScore for property buyers.
Frequently asked questions
Can I download an encumbrance certificate online in West Bengal?
Not as a single certificate. On igr.wb.gov.in you search the deed index yourself, by property details and by party name, including the legacy deed searches. You then order certified copies of the deeds you find. For bank charges, you also search CERSAI.
Is wbregistration.gov.in still the right website?
No. It now shows a "Website Moved" page that points to https://igr.wb.gov.in. Use the new address.
Does West Bengal issue Form 15 and Form 16?
Form 15 (documents found) and Form 16 (nil) are encumbrance certificate formats used in several southern states. The West Bengal portal does not offer them as an online service. Read our Form 15 vs Form 16 guide for the states that use them.
My deed search shows nothing. Is the property clean?
Not yet. First, check that every deed you already hold appears in the results. If one is missing, the search is incomplete. Re-run it by name and through the legacy deed options, and include old plot numbers from earlier survey rounds. Then search CERSAI.
What is the difference between the khatian and a deed search?
The khatian (Record of Rights) is the revenue record of who holds the land, kept by the land department and shown on Banglarbhumi. The deed search shows registered transactions, kept by the registration department. Neither proves title alone. A safe check matches both. Mutation updates the khatian but does not create title.
How far back should I search?
Search 30 years, the usual standard for a title search. If the chain starts with an older root deed (a partition, a grant or the first sale after a layout), search back to it. For older deeds, the legacy deed searches matter most.
Who should read the results?
You can run the searches yourself. For a purchase or a loan, have an advocate read the deeds and the certified copies. Read legal opinion for property: format and cost.
Related guides
- How to read an encumbrance certificate
- Title deed verification and clear title check
- Property due diligence checklist for India
- How to check if a property has a court case
Sources checked on 22 October 2026: igr.wb.gov.in (service menu and search options), the wbregistration.gov.in redirect notice, West Bengal Police gazette notifications listing mouzas by J.L. No., and the CERSAI asset search linked from the WB portal.
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