The Bill reworks the 1908 registration framework, including online registration and the treatment of instruments such as mortgage by deposit of title deeds that today sit outside compulsory registration.
What this changes for a title check
The draft Registration Bill 2025, meant to replace the 1908 Act, widens the list of documents that must be compulsorily registered in ways that touch common practice directly. Agreements to sell, including builder and promoter agreements, move into compulsory registration under Section 12(1)(f). Powers of attorney that authorise a sale, even if the POA itself does not transfer title, must be registered under Section 12(1)(g). Documents recording an equitable mortgage by deposit of title deeds, currently invisible at the registrar's office in most states, would also need registration under Section 12(1)(h).
For a title chain, the POA point matters most: an unregistered POA used to authorise a sale is a common weak link lawyers already flag, and under the new Bill that gap would fail a statutory requirement outright rather than just being a risk factor. The equitable mortgage change would also make bank mortgages by deposit of title deeds visible in the registration record for the first time, useful for spotting an encumbrance a standard EC search currently misses. This is still a draft bill, not yet enacted.