Encumbrance Certificate Not Available Online: How to Get It Offline

Reviewed on: 2026-06-12.

Your state registration portal will not generate the EC, or it shows recent years but not the older period you need. Do these first actions.

1. Confirm what the portal can and cannot give. Many state EC portals only cover the computerised period, often from the early 2000s onward. Years before digitisation are usually not searchable online at all. If you need an older period, the online route was never going to return it, and you must apply for a manual EC at the office.
2. Search with the exact property identifiers. A wrong survey, plot or door number, village, or sub-registrar office returns “no records” or a blank EC. Re-check each field against your sale deed before deciding the portal has failed.
3. Note the exact error. Save a screenshot of the failure, whether it is a payment failure, a “no data found” result, a portal timeout, or a period that is greyed out. This is your proof when you apply offline or escalate.
4. Apply for a manual EC at the sub-registrar office that has jurisdiction over the property, using the prescribed application (Form 22 in many states) with the property details, the period sought, and the fee.

A typical case from Hyderabad: Sridhar needs an EC from 1995 to date for a family property. The Telangana IGRS portal returns only the post-computerisation years. The pre-2000 period exists only in the manual registers at the sub-registrar office, so a manual EC application is the correct route for the older years, alongside the online EC for the recent period.

• Pre-digitisation period. The years you need predate the office's computerised records, so the portal has nothing to search. This is the most common reason and is not a fault you can fix online.
• Property identifier mismatch. The survey, plot or door number, or the village or office, does not match how the property is recorded, so the search returns nothing.
• Portal or payment failure. A genuine technical issue, a timed-out session, or a failed fee payment stops the EC from generating even though the data exists.
• Office or jurisdiction change. The property's sub-registrar office was re-organised or renamed, and you are searching the wrong office.

1. Visit the sub-registrar office with jurisdiction over the property, or the office counter named on your state portal.
2. File the prescribed EC application (often Form 22) with the full property description, the survey, plot or door number, the village or area, and the exact period you want.
3. Pay the prescribed fee, which is usually a base fee plus a small per-year charge. Keep the receipt and the application number.
4. Collect the manual EC, which the office prepares from the registers for periods not available online. For a “nil” period it issues a nil EC.

To,
The Sub-Registrar
[Name of Sub-Registrar's Office]
[State Registration and Stamps Department]

Date: [DD/MM/YYYY]

Subject: Encumbrance Certificate not available online for the period
[from] to [to] - request for a manual EC for Survey/Plot/Door No.
[number], [village/area]

Sir/Madam,

The state registration portal does not generate an Encumbrance
Certificate for my property for the period [from] to [to]. [State the
reason: the period predates the computerised records / the portal returns
no data / payment or technical failure, screenshot enclosed.]

I request a manual Encumbrance Certificate for the above property and
period from the registers held at your office. I enclose the prescribed
application and fee, my sale deed for the property identifiers, and the
portal error screenshot.

Please acknowledge with an application number and confirm the fee and the
expected date of issue.

Yours faithfully,
[Name, address, mobile, email]
Enclosures: EC application form, fee receipt, sale deed copy, portal
screenshot, identity proof.

The sub-registrar and the state Registration and Stamps department are public authorities, so RTI is a strong backstop when the online route fails. Registration is a state subject, so file through your state RTI portal or by post to the office PIO, not the central portal. Ask for a certified copy of the register entries for your survey or door number for the period you need, the status of your manual EC application, and the reason the period is not available online. For pre-digital years this can be the most reliable way to get the registered history in writing. A first appeal usually unlocks a reply if the PIO is silent. RTI gets you the records and a dated answer; the EC itself is issued by the office on your application.

• Assuming a portal failure means the EC does not exist. Old periods are simply offline and come through a manual application.
• Searching the wrong sub-registrar office after a jurisdiction change, then concluding there are “no records”.
• Not keeping the portal error screenshot, which is your proof when you apply offline or escalate a payment failure.
• Giving up after a failed online payment instead of raising it with the portal helpdesk and applying at the counter.

Most often the period you need predates the office's computerised records, so the portal has nothing to search. Other causes are a mismatch in the property identifiers, a portal or payment failure, or searching the wrong sub-registrar office. Recent years are usually online; older years usually are not.

Apply for a manual EC at the sub-registrar office with jurisdiction over the property, using the prescribed application and fee, stating the property details and the period. The office prepares the EC from its manual registers for periods not available online.

Many states use Form 22 for the EC application, with a base fee plus a small per-year charge. The exact form and fee vary by state, so confirm on your state portal or at the office counter. Keep the receipt and application number.

Save the transaction reference and the error screen, and raise it with the state registration portal helpdesk for a refund or re-issue. If the data exists for that period, you can also apply for the EC at the counter in the meantime.

Yes. The registration department is a public authority. File a state RTI for certified copies of the register entries for your property and period, and the status of your manual EC application. For pre-digital years this is often the most dependable written record. A first appeal helps if the PIO does not reply.

Yes, the office issues a “nil” EC for a period with no registered transactions. A nil EC is a valid result, not a failure, and is often exactly what a buyer or bank asks for.

• EC missing a recent registered deed
• EC shows a transaction that is not yours
• EC still shows a closed mortgage
• Duplicate property record created
• Practical Guides hub
• How to file RTI online
• State RTI portal directory

Download the EC not available online checklist (PDF).