Title search in Vijayawada: EC, Section 22A, assigned land and Amaravati plots

Visit our Vijayawada office with the seller's papers

Visit our Vijayawada office at D.No. 61/3, 3-24, Balaji Nagar, 4th Lane, Krishna Lanka, Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh. Appointments are made first, so call +91 8291849797 or +91 9167710454 or write to info@vivs.in before you come.

Our head office is in Sanpada-Vashi, Navi Mumbai. Scans by email and a video call also work, which suits buyers living abroad or in another state.

The people who read your file are Adv. Swanand Pandit (BLS, LL.B, LL.M, PGDBM, JAIIB; Advocate, High Court of Bombay) and Adv. Ashok Ingle (B.A. LL.B).

What must a title search in Vijayawada answer?

In Andhra Pradesh, three questions need separate answers:

• Does the chain of deeds actually lead to this seller, with no heir, co-owner or lender left out?
• Can the sale be registered at all, or does the land fall under the Section 22A prohibited list or the assigned land law?
• Do the deed, the land record and the map still describe the same piece of land after the district split and the resurvey?

The third question comes from two changes. NTR district was carved out of Krishna district on 4 April 2022, with Vijayawada as its headquarters, so older deeds say Krishna and the search follows the property under both names. The state's resurvey is also bringing in land parcel numbers.

The Andhra Pradesh Land Titling Act, 2022 was repealed by Act 11 of 2024, so ownership is still proved by reading deeds and records. Any draft that leans on the 2022 Act needs a second look.

Records and offices we check for a Vijayawada property

How does the Section 22A prohibited list affect a purchase?

Section 22A of the Registration Act was added by Andhra Pradesh in 1999 and rewritten in 2007. A sub-registrar must refuse to register a document covered by it. The clauses cover property whose transfer a statute bars, such as assigned land; government land sold by someone without authority; endowment and wakf property sold without authority; land declared surplus under ceiling laws; and other property the state notifies, including attached property.

This list has moved quickly in 2026:

• 1 January 2026: the government announced removal of five categories: land allotted to military personnel, to freedom fighters and to victims of political persecution, land assigned before 18 June 1954, and private patta land.
• July 2026: new orders were reported to remove further categories, including conditional pattas, village service inams and old unapproved layouts. They also require notice, 30 days for objections and a reasoned order before land is added.
• September 2026: the Revenue Minister cited G.O. 444 and G.O. 445 as the orders on removing and adding land.

Being off the list does not prove title. We read the order that removed any entry and still test the chain on its own merits.

Assigned land, freehold status and dotted land

Assigned land

The Andhra Pradesh Assigned Lands (Prohibition of Transfers) Act, 1977 protects land the state gave to landless poor families. Transfers are barred, and land sold in breach can be resumed. The 2023 amendment lets the assignee or heirs sell agricultural assigned land 20 years after the date of assignment, and it refers to a 10-year period for house sites.

Freehold registrations were then halted on 10 August 2024. In September 2026, the Revenue Minister said registrations could start on about 9 lakh acres, while about 4 lakh acres go to inquiry for irregularities. A freehold entry alone is therefore not enough. We ask for the original assignment order and check its date, the extent, and who has held the land since.

In a 2026 Full Bench decision (State of Andhra Pradesh v. D. Venugopal), the High Court held by majority that a landless poor person who bought assigned land in good faith before the 1977 Act gets full title under Section 3(5), including the right to sell. That helps only a chain on those facts.

Dotted land

Dotted land carries a dot in the ownership column of the Re-Settlement Register, placed where ownership was unclear or contested when the records were settled. The Andhra Pradesh Dotted Lands (Updation in Re-Settlement Register) Act, 2017 created a route to clear these entries and delete them from the prohibitory list, and it was amended in 2023. In January 2026, the state said dotted lands re-included during the resurvey, and those never removed, were still under review. For this land we look for the committee's order and a matching change in the land record.

Land parcel numbers and the resurvey

Under the resurvey, parcels get land parcel (LP) numbers and maps, and Meebhoomi now offers an LP map. In April 2026, the Chief Minister set March 2027 as the deadline for finishing resurvey 2.0 and giving out new passbooks.

A seller may therefore hold a deed with an old survey number and a passbook with an LP number. We tie the two together, compare the extent and boundaries on each, and run the EC against both, since earlier documents carry the old number.

Title search by type of Vijayawada property

Flats inside VMC limits

The search runs through the sale deeds, the developer's agreement with the landowner and the sanctioned plan, then back to the parent survey number. The EC is searched by door number as well as by document number.

Andhra Pradesh added Section 17(1)(g) to the Registration Act, which requires registration of an agreement of sale of immovable property worth Rs 100 or more. In a 2026 revision petition, the High Court also upheld the refusal to admit an inadequately stamped agreement reciting delivery of possession.

Plots in layouts around the city

A plot needs both a sound parent title and a lawful layout. We trace how agricultural land became a housing plot, whether land conversion was done and whether the layout was approved. Removal of old unapproved layouts from the 22A list does not by itself settle planning approval.

Agricultural land on the edges of the city

Here Meebhoomi matters most. The adangal is the village account of the land, its classification and cultivation; the 1B lists holdings by pattadar. They should agree with each other and with the deeds, but an entry does not by itself prove title.

Amaravati returnable plots

Landowners who pooled land under the APCRDA scheme get developed plots back. The state map marks Amaravati in Guntur district, not NTR, so check the district on the plot's papers. APCRDA still allots plots by e-lottery with provisional certificates, with registration to follow. The first check is how far this plot has got: provisional allotment, ownership certificate or registered document.

APCRDA's own action plan points to two more checks. G.O.Ms. No. 187 of 2025 removed the word "assigned" from land pooling ownership certificates, with fresh documents executed on request. G.O.Ms. No. 276 of 2025 allowed rectification deeds where a change in plot code naming left 495 returnable plots with discrepancies. The plot code, boundaries and certificate should all agree. The same plan lists issues on lanka, gramakantam and jareebu land in capital villages. A further round of pooling began in late 2025, so we also ask whether land offered near the capital has already been pooled.

Houses near the Krishna bund and the Budameru

Press reports describe households being moved for the flood protection wall along the Krishna bund, and action against encroachments on the Budameru drain after the September 2024 flood. In these stretches, a tax receipt or long occupation does not settle ownership. We ask what the seller's right rests on and put any question about bund or drain land to VMC or the irrigation office in writing.

New flats in AP RERA projects

A project on more than 500 square metres, or with more than eight apartments, generally has to be registered under the RERA Act. We read the promoter's title documents on the AP RERA portal against the land records, then look at how your flat will be released from any construction loan. Our page on RERA complaints and builder disputes covers what can be done about delays.

The search from first paper to final report

1. Share the file. Send the deeds, passbook, EC, tax receipts and any order the seller relies on.
2. Pin down the property. We settle the survey number, LP number, door number, extent and district, old and new, before anything else.
3. Test for bars. The 22A record, assigned and dotted status, and any APCRDA link are checked before you spend more.
4. Build the chain. We pull ECs for the full search period, obtain certified copies of key deeds and write to the seller about gaps.
5. Cross-check the rest. Meebhoomi or VMC records, CERSAI, RERA where it applies, and the court records.
6. Invite claims where needed. A public notice in an English and a Telugu newspaper can draw out claims no record shows.
7. Receive the written opinion. It sets out what is clear, what is not, and what the seller should fix before you pay.

Papers to request from the seller

Ask for these early, while your token is still small.

• All earlier deeds, with registration details, for at least 30 years where they exist
• A pattadar passbook, with the 1B and adangal extracts, for land
• The LP map linking the old survey number to the LP number
• The assignment order or DKT patta, and any freehold order, if the land was ever assigned
• The order removing the land from the 22A list, if it was once listed
• The land pooling ownership certificate, allotment papers and any rectification deed, for a returnable plot
• Succession papers where the property passed by death
• VMC tax receipts, the mutation order and the sanctioned plan
• Any lender's closure letter, with the original deeds returned

Timing and cost of a Vijayawada title report

Timing depends on the length of the chain and how old the records are. We give you a date after we have read the papers.

Published prices are the same across the site. The agreement to sale with title search report is from Rs 18,000, as is the sale deed with title search report. Tenants taking a shop or office can use the commercial lease agreement with title search, also from Rs 18,000. For land or a whole building, we quote after reading the papers.

Warning signs in a Vijayawada property file

• An old survey number with no LP link. Until the two are tied together, the sale may not describe the land the record shows.
• A freehold entry with no assignment order behind it. The entry may be among those under inquiry.
• A claim that 22A no longer applies. Ask which order removed it and read that order.
• A returnable plot code that differs between papers. Look for the rectification deed.
• A passbook offered as the only proof of ownership. Ask for the deeds behind it.

Related title search pages and legal help

Other cities have their own record systems. See our pages on title search in Mumbai, Navi Mumbai and Bangalore, or go back to the main property title search page. Our title search guide explains the method.

If the chain runs through a death, see inheritance without a will. If a party acts through an agent, see power of attorney for NRI property. Disputes go to our property lawyers.

This page is general information about title searches in Vijayawada, not legal advice on a particular property.