Bengaluru: In a relief for lakhs of owners stuck with B-khatas for properties in unauthorised layouts, the assembly Friday passed the Karnataka Municipal Corporations (Amendment) Bill, 2026, paving the way for owners of such properties to secure A-khatas and full ownership rights.Introducing the bill, minister Krishna Byre Gowda said secure, legally recognised ownership for every property owner is part of the govt’s and chief minister’s “Land Guarantee” commitment.“The amendment to Section 284 is aimed at addressing fundamental problems associated with unauthorised layouts and to provide a legal pathway for property owners,” Byre Gowda said.He said unauthorised layouts had mushroomed across urban Karnataka over decades, often without proper roads, drains, electricity or drinking water, and owners faced difficulties for no fault of theirs. Since no legal provision existed to issue A-khatas for these properties, owners were given B-khatas instead.He revealed that land on which some roads were built are still in the names of original owners. The amendment now allows municipal corporations to officially declare these as public roads, after which eligible sites and houses can get A-khatas, easing access to bank loans, building plans and occupancy certificate approvals.The assembly also passed two related Bills empowering officials to declare a private street, including its drains, a public one if it is in poor condition and poses a safety risk.A third bill, the Karnataka Apartment (Ownership and Management) Bill, 2026, was also passed, laying out a legal framework for governance and management of common areas in apartment buildings, along with ownership of individual flats and undivided shares in shared facilities. All three bills went through amid protests by BJP and JD(S) over B Nagendra’s continued presence in the cabinet.In the council, the Bangalore Development Authority (Amendment) Bill, 2026, which halves regularisation charges for 1,11,560 unauthorised houses in BDA layouts and raises the BDA commissioner’s sanctioning limit from Rs 50 lakh to Rs 5 crore was passed. The Nadaprabhu Kempegowda Heritage Area Development Authority (Amendment) Bill, 2026 that allows the deputy CM or revenue minister as vice-chairman of the authority and adds ministers and six heritage experts as members, and Karnataka Town and Country Planning (Amendment) Bill, 2026, which allows final layout approval after imposing a 3% penalty for delayed development works, were also passed. All three bills now await the governor’s consent.
