Bihar Land Revenue Collection Falls Short By Crores Amid New Land Registry Rules

Financial Year 2024-25 concluded with a significant shortfall in land revenue collection for the Bihar government. The decline in the state revenue came following the introduction of new land registry rules, which mandate Jamabandi, the record of rights, for land transactions in the state. 

Despite the onset of a new financial year, the decline in revenue collection persists in several states, with low signs of improvement. For instance, the Banka Registry Office, which had a target of Rs 58.73 crore, managed to collect only Rs 44.75 crore. Similarly, the Amarpur Registry Office fell short, collecting Rs 22.59 crore against a target of Rs 29.83 crore.

The implementation of the new rules has led to a drastic reduction in the number of daily land registries. Banka Registry Office saw a drop from an average of 70-80 to merely 10-12 registries, while Amarpur Office’s numbers plummeted from 50 to below 10.

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The new regulation mandates that only the individual with the records of cultivation, ownership, and the most recent information of several rights in land is authorised to sell the land. This has prompted landowners to ensure their lands are properly registered before sale, significantly altering the process of ancestral land transactions.

The change also severely impacted clerks, with their business declining by approximately 70 per cent, who spend their days waiting for customers, often returning home without any transactions which highlights the negative effects of new registry revenue rules.