Tamil Nadu Land Records Online (Patta Chitta (TN eServices)): How to Check Patta (2026)

How-To Guide · Property Due Diligence

Updated for 2026 · Claw Editorial

To check Tamil Nadu land records online, open the Patta Chitta service on the official TN eServices portal, choose the district, taluk and village, and search by Patta number or by survey number and sub-division number. You can view the Patta, Chitta and A-Register extract. These show who is recorded as the holder and how the land is classified. They do not prove clear title, so a buyer should also check the encumbrance certificate and any court cases on the land or the parties by name.

01Why a land record check is not enough

Most people search for Tamil Nadu land records for a simple reason. They are about to buy a plot, take a loan against land, or settle a family dispute, and they want to know who owns the land on paper.

The Patta and Chitta answer one part of that. They tell you what the revenue department has on record. They do not tell you if the seller has a valid title, if the land is under a court case, or if a family member has a claim on it. Many property disputes in Tamil Nadu start with a clean looking Patta and a seller who was not the only owner.

So use the portal for what it does well, then add the checks it cannot do. This guide is not the government portal. It explains how to use the official one, and what to do after.

02Patta, Chitta and A-Register explained

Three record names come up again and again in Tamil Nadu. They are related, but they are not the same thing.

Patta

The Patta is the revenue record that names the person recorded as the holder of a piece of land. It carries a Patta number, the survey number and sub-division, the area, and the holder’s name. Banks and registration offices often ask for it.

Chitta

The Chitta is the village-level extract of the land register. It lists the land, its classification (for example wet or dry land), its extent and the recorded holder. People often say “Patta Chitta” together because both are shown from the same service.

A-Register extract

The A-Register is the village register of land details kept by the revenue department. You can view an A-Register extract on the same portal. It is a useful cross check against the Chitta, because a mismatch in name or area is a warning sign.

FMB and TSLR

The Field Measurement Book (FMB) sketch shows the land boundaries on the ground. The Town Survey Land Register (TSLR) extract is used for urban areas. The portal lists these next to the Patta and Chitta, so you can match the sketch to the record.

03Steps to check your land record on the official portal

The exact screens may change, but the flow has been stable. Here is how to check a Patta or Chitta online.

1. Open the Tamil Nadu e-Services portal at eservices.tn.gov.in.
2. Go to the land records or Patta Chitta service. Choose the option to view Patta and FMB, Chitta or TSLR extract. For the A-Register, choose the A-Register extract option.
3. Select the area type, rural or urban, as shown on the screen.
4. Select the district, then the taluk, then the village from the drop-down lists.
5. Choose how to search: by Patta number, or by survey number with the sub-division number.
6. Enter the details and the captcha or mobile OTP if the portal asks for it.
7. Submit. The record opens on screen. Check the holder name, survey number, area and classification.
8. Download or print the extract if you need a copy. Note that a printout is for information. For legal use, ask the issuing office what copy they accept.

Always match the survey number and sub-division on the record to the number in the sale deed. A small typing error here is a common cause of later disputes.

04Search methods compared

People search by different details depending on what they have in hand. The table shows how each method fits the Tamil Nadu portal. The portal mainly works on location and number, not on owner name.

05Mutation vs record update

These two words are often mixed up, so keep them apart.

• Mutation (change of Patta, or name transfer): the revenue department changes the recorded holder after a sale, gift, inheritance or partition. In other states this is called dakhil-kharij or namantaran. In Tamil Nadu it is done by applying for a Patta transfer or name change.
• Record update: a correction of details such as area, classification or spelling, without a change of ownership.

A sale deed registered today does not change the Patta by itself. Until the Patta is transferred, the old holder may still show on the portal. That is why a buyer should check both the deed and the current record. To follow the status of a transfer, see our guide to checking property mutation status.

06Record vs title: what to check next

A land record is a revenue and tax record. It shows who is recorded as holder, mainly for revenue purposes. Title is the legal right to own the land, and it comes from a chain of valid documents, not from a Patta alone.

Before you pay, do these checks in order.

1. Match the record to the deed. Holder name, survey number, sub-division and area must agree.
2. Get the encumbrance certificate. It shows registered transactions on the property, such as mortgages and earlier sales. See how to download an encumbrance certificate.
3. Check the chain of title. Trace how each owner got the land: sale, gift, will, partition.
4. Check for court cases. A pending suit, an attachment or a stay order can sit behind a clean Patta. Search for cases against the land and against the seller and any co-owners by name.

The fourth step is the one most buyers skip. The portal and the encumbrance certificate do not show unregistered claims or pending litigation. If you do property or vendor checks as a team, the same discipline applies in our due diligence checklist, and the tools in our guide to litigation due diligence software show how the case check is done at scale.

A clean Patta tells you what the revenue record says. It cannot tell you whether a court has said something different.

07Where Claw fits

Claw is an all-in-one legaltech platform for Indian advocates, law firms, and corporate legal teams, combining AI-based case search, an AI legal assistant (Legal GPT), case management, and compliance automation across all Indian courts and tribunals.

Claw does not replace the Tamil Nadu e-Services portal and does not issue land records. Where it helps is the litigation check. Claw covers 9,102 forums and 30 crore+ judgments, with results in under 5 seconds, and its name search is tolerant of spelling differences, which matters for Tamil names written in English.

Before you buy, create a free Claw account to check for any court cases on the land or on the parties by name (property litigation and entity check). Claw has a free plan for individual advocates; teams and enterprises are on paid plans.

A name-based search also depends on case data being indexed under that name, so treat a clear result as one more check, not as a guarantee. A clear result does not replace a lawyer’s opinion on title. For the gaps that name searches can miss, see our note on search coverage gaps.

08Sources and further reading

• Tamil Nadu e-Services portal (official): eservices.tn.gov.in
• Claw: clawlaw.in

Last verified: October 2026. Portal menus and record names can change. This guide is general information, not legal advice on any specific property.

09Frequently asked questions