EC Still Shows a Discharged Loan? Clear the Old Mortgage Charge

Reviewed on: 2026-06-12.

You repaid a home loan, the bank returned your title papers and gave a No Objection Certificate (NOC), but a fresh Encumbrance Certificate (EC) still shows the bank as a mortgage charge-holder. Work out which situation is yours and act on the right track.

• If the loan is repaid but no release deed was registered, then the bank must execute a release or reconveyance deed and it must be registered at the sub-registrar office where the original mortgage was registered. Only a registered release entry clears the charge on the EC.
• If the bank already registered a release deed recently, then the EC simply has not picked it up yet. Wait the indexing window and pull a fresh EC.
• If the mortgage on the EC was never your loan, then it is a wrong-indexing error, and the route is a correction petition to the sub-registrar, not a release deed.
• If the EC is clean but a CERSAI charge still shows, then that is a separate central registry, and the bank must file a satisfaction of charge on CERSAI.

A loan closure letter or NOC does not clear the EC. The EC mirrors what is registered, so only a registered release deed updates it.

The EC is an index of registered documents maintained under the Registration Act, 1908. The mortgage was created by a registered deed, a mortgage by deposit of title deeds, an equitable mortgage, or a Memorandum of Deposit of Title Deeds (MODT). It stays on the record as a historical fact until a registered release deed appears next to it. The clean outcome you want is both entries showing, the mortgage and its release. The mortgage entry does not vanish; the release entry beside it is what frees the title.

1. Pull a fresh EC for the maximum period from your state portal. Note the mortgage entry's document number, year, lender name, and deed type.
2. Check whether the bank already has a registered release deed. Ask for its registration number and search it on the state portal. If it was registered in the last few weeks, wait for indexing.
3. If no release deed exists, send the bank a written request (template below). The RBI's directions on release of movable and immovable property documents (in force from 1 December 2023) require regulated lenders to release documents and remove charges within 30 days of full repayment, with compensation of Rs 5,000 per day of delay beyond that for cases on or after that date.
4. Collect the executed release or reconveyance deed from the bank. On its own this is not enough.
5. Register it at the same sub-registrar office that holds the original mortgage. You, the owner, must usually be present. Stamp duty and the registration fee for a release deed are modest compared with a sale deed; check your state's current schedule.
6. Pull a fresh EC after the indexing window. It should now show the mortgage and its release together.
7. Ask the bank in writing to file the CERSAI satisfaction of charge as well.

1. Get a certified copy of the registered document behind the entry from the sub-registrar, by document number, to see what it actually says.
2. If it names a different property, owner or survey number, file a correction petition to the sub-registrar with your sale deed, the EC, the certified copy and identity proof.
3. Escalate to the District Registrar or Inspector General of Registration if the office does not act. A genuine overlapping claim, rather than a clerical error, may need a civil remedy.

To,
The Branch Manager / Grievance Officer
[Bank name and branch]

Date: [DD/MM/YYYY]

Subject: Registered release deed and CERSAI satisfaction - Loan Account
No. [number] - property at [address]

Sir/Madam,

I fully repaid the above loan on [closure date] and received the closure
letter / NOC dated [date]. A fresh Encumbrance Certificate dated [date]
for my property still shows your mortgage (document [no.]/[year],
registered at [sub-registrar office]) as an active charge.

A NOC does not clear the EC. I request you to execute and register a
release / reconveyance deed at the [sub-registrar office] within 30 days,
in line with the RBI directions on release of property documents, and to
confirm in writing that the satisfaction of charge has been filed with
CERSAI.

Please treat this as a formal grievance. If unresolved within 30 days I
will approach the RBI Complaint Management System at cms.rbi.org.in.

Enclosures: closure letter / NOC, current EC showing the charge, copy of
the mortgage / MODT document if available.

Yours faithfully,
[Name, loan account number, mobile, email]

A sub-registrar office is a public authority, so you can RTI the state registration department for certified copies of the registered mortgage and any release deed, the index page, and the status of a correction petition. Public-sector banks (such as SBI, PNB, Bank of Baroda, Canara Bank) are also public authorities, so you can RTI a PSU lender for the date the loan was closed in its records, copies of the discharge or release deed, and whether a CERSAI satisfaction was filed. Private banks, NBFCs and housing finance companies are not public authorities, so RTI does not apply to them; for those, use the RBI ombudsman. CERSAI itself does not accept borrower-side charge-satisfaction applications, that must come from the lender. RTI gets you records and speeds a slow office; it cannot order the bank to register a deed, which is the ombudsman, consumer or court route.

• Treating the NOC or closure letter as if it clears the EC. Only a registered release deed does.
• Expecting the mortgage entry to disappear. The clean EC shows the mortgage and its release together.
• Registering the release deed at the wrong sub-registrar office, so it never reflects in the right EC.
• Forgetting CERSAI. A clean EC does not clear the separate CERSAI charge.
• Filing an RTI against a private bank, which only wastes the 30-day window. Use the RBI ombudsman instead.
• Filing a correction petition for an uncleared mortgage. With no indexing error, it will be refused; you need a release deed.

Until a registered release or reconveyance deed appears in the record, the mortgage entry stays. Ask the bank to execute and register a release deed at the same sub-registrar office where the mortgage was registered. After indexing, a fresh EC will show the charge as discharged.

No. A NOC is a private document. The EC and any fresh lender will still see the mortgage because it was created by registration. Only a registered release, discharge or reconveyance deed removes the encumbrance from the registered history.

Send a written grievance to the branch and grievance officer citing the RBI 30-day rule for release of documents. If the delay is the bank's fault, compensation of Rs 5,000 per day can apply for cases on or after 1 December 2023. If unresolved, escalate to the RBI CMS portal. For a PSU bank you can also file an RTI for the records.

A few working days to a few weeks, depending on the state, while the deed is indexed. Pull a fresh EC after that window and confirm the discharge entry appears.

CERSAI is a separate central registry where lenders record security interests. Clearing the EC at the sub-registrar does not clear CERSAI. The bank must separately file a satisfaction of charge on CERSAI, so ask for that in writing too.

That is a wrong-indexing error, not an undischarged mortgage. Get a certified copy of the underlying deed, and if it belongs to a different property or person, file a correction petition with the sub-registrar. A release deed is the wrong tool here.

• CERSAI mortgage lien not removed after loan closure
• EC shows a transaction that is not yours
• EC missing a recent registered deed
• Encumbrance certificate unavailable online
• Practical Guides hub
• How to file RTI online

Download the EC old-mortgage correction checklist (PDF).