In Short (2026)
An Andhra Pradesh Encumbrance Certificate (EC) from the IGRS AP portal (registration.ap.gov.in) lists only the registered transactions on a property for the period you request — sale deeds, mortgages, gift deeds and court attachments. It is not a title certificate. A clean (Nil) EC does not tell you whether the survey number sits on the 22A prohibited list, whether the land is assigned government land, whether a court case is pending, or whether the owner has created an equitable mortgage by depositing the title deeds with a bank. Pull the EC first, then run those four checks separately. The free "EC for Information Only" is instant; a digitally signed EC needs a login and a small fee (₹200 for up to 30 years, ₹500 beyond 30 years — confirm on the portal).
What Is an Encumbrance Certificate (EC)?
An Encumbrance Certificate is a certified extract of the register the Sub-Registrar maintains under the Registration Act 1908. It records every registered transaction on a property over a period you specify — in Andhra Pradesh, through the IGRS AP (Inspector General of Registration and Stamps) portal, which runs on the state's CARD (Computer-Aided Administration of Registration Department) system.
A common and costly misreading is to treat the EC as proof that a property is "free of all liability". It is not. The EC proves only what the register holds: registered instruments such as sale deeds, mortgage deeds, gift deeds, release deeds and court attachments that were presented for registration. Anything that was never registered — and several things that legally never need to be — simply does not appear. Read it as a starting point for a title search, not as a clean chit.
Does a Clean AP EC Mean the Title Is Safe?
No. This is the single most important thing to understand before you pay an advance in Andhra Pradesh. The Supreme Court has held repeatedly that a registration record does not by itself prove ownership — the Sub-Registrar's role is ministerial and he cannot decide title (K. Gopi v. The Sub-Registrar, 2025 INSC 462), and registration of a document "does not create any title" (Suraj Lamp & Industries v. State of Haryana, (2012) 1 SCC 656). The EC is a search of the register, so it inherits exactly the same limits.
Four things a clean AP EC will not show — each of which can defeat your purchase:
1. The 22A prohibited-list flag. Section 22-A of the Registration Act lets the government bar registration of certain lands (government land, assigned land, endowment/Waqf land, and specially notified land). This flag attaches to the survey number, not to any deed, and is maintained by IGRS as a separate centralised database — so a property can have a spotless 30-year EC and still be un-registerable because its survey number is on the 22A list. You must check the 22A list on registration.ap.gov.in independently of the EC.
2. Assigned-land status. Land assigned to the landless under the AP Assigned Lands (Prohibition of Transfers) Act 1977 cannot be sold, and a sale in breach is void — but "assigned" is a nature-of-land status recorded in the revenue records (Adangal / 1-B / ROR), never an entry on the EC. Verify the land classification separately before you rely on a clean EC.
3. A pending court case (lis pendens). A plaint filed in court is not a registrable instrument, so a pending suit is structurally invisible to the EC. Under Section 52 of the Transfer of Property Act a buyer who purchases during a pending suit is bound by the eventual decree — even with no stay order, and even if the EC was spotless. Litigation is found by a party-name search (the seller plus every prior owner in the chain) across eCourts and the AP High Court, not by searching "against the survey number".
4. An equitable mortgage. A borrower can create a valid mortgage simply by depositing the original title deeds with a bank (Section 58(f), Transfer of Property Act). It needs no registration, so it never appears on the EC — the single most common hidden charge. It can be surfaced only by a CERSAI search (a few rupees) and by physically sighting the original documents.
This is the mechanism that sets a real title search apart from an EC download: the EC answers "what is registered?", while title due diligence answers "who owns this, free of every claim?".
Form 15 vs Form 16: Which EC You Receive
Form 15 is issued when registered encumbrances exist on the property during the requested period. It lists each transaction with its document number, date, parties and the nature of the transaction (sale, mortgage, gift, release, attachment). This is the usual output.
Form 16 (Nil Encumbrance Certificate) is issued when no registered transaction is found for the property in the requested period. A Form 16 is not automatically good news: it can mean the property genuinely had no registered dealings, or that the search parameters (survey number, SRO jurisdiction, period) were wrong and the real entries were simply missed. Treat a surprise "Nil" as a prompt to re-check the inputs, not as a green light.
How to Apply for an AP EC Online (IGRS AP Portal)
- Go to the official IGRS AP portal at registration.ap.gov.in.
- Open the EC / CC / MV services (listed under citizen services on the homepage).
- Choose the output you need:
- EC for Information Only — an unsigned copy, usually generated instantly and free of cost. Good for a first look; not accepted as a formal document by banks or courts.
- Signed EC — a digitally signed certificate. You must log in, and a fee applies. This is the version a bank or Sub-Registrar will act on.
- Enter the property details: district, Sub-Registrar office, and document number or survey number.
- Select the period (banks typically want 13 years; a full search is 30 years).
- Pay online (net banking, card or UPI) and download, or note the application number to track.
Meeseva centres also accept EC applications if you prefer an assisted, offline route.
Fees for an AP EC (2026)
Current reported fees on the IGRS AP portal are ₹200 for a search of up to 30 years and ₹500 for a search of more than 30 years. The unsigned "EC for Information Only" is generally free. Some sources list five-year step tiers (roughly ₹200 to ₹500), so the authoritative figure is whatever the portal's Duty Fee Calculator computes at the time you apply — confirm it before paying rather than relying on a blog table (including this one). Note that an urgent/tatkal fee is not the same thing as the ₹500 charge: ₹500 is the price for the longer search period, not a speed premium.
How to Read Your Encumbrance Certificate
The EC sets out, for each entry, the document number, registration date, nature of the document, the executing and claimant parties, and a short property description. Read the entries chronologically to trace how ownership moved.
Pay special attention to mortgage entries. If a mortgage is registered but no corresponding release / reconveyance deed appears later, the charge may still be live — the register records instruments, not repayments, so a loan you were told is "closed" can sit on the EC until the release is itself registered. Also watch for court attachment orders, partition deeds and gift deeds that change who can sign the sale.
Common Issues and How to Resolve Them
Wrong property details. A mismatched survey number or SRO jurisdiction returns a misleading Form 16 (Nil). Cross-check the survey number against the latest Adangal / 1-B before you trust a "Nil" result, and run every variant of a sub-divided survey number.
Transactions missing from the EC. Unregistered agreements, oral partitions, General Power of Attorney "sales", and — as above — 22A flags, assigned-land status, pending litigation and equitable mortgages never appear. Complement the EC with the revenue records, a CERSAI search and a party-name litigation search.
Pre-digitisation gap. The online EC covers the period the SRO has computerised. For older links in the chain, apply for a certified search / certified copies at the Sub-Registrar office so the chain does not quietly start at the digitisation floor.
Delayed signed EC. A signed EC can take a few working days. If an online application stalls beyond that, visit the SRO with your application number.
What Changed for AP Buyers in 2026
Andhra Pradesh has been actively pruning its 22A prohibited list. From 1 January 2026 the government removed five categories of land from the list — including land allotted to ex-servicemen and serving defence personnel, freedom fighters and political sufferers, assigned land from before 18 June 1954, and certain private patta lands. Officials were also directed to fix a long-standing anomaly where an entire survey number was flagged over a dispute on a small part of it, by sub-dividing the survey number and flagging only the disputed portion. Later in 2026, further categories were reported for removal (including auctioned temple/Waqf lands, inam lands, conditional patta, old unapproved layouts and APSFC-auctioned land), with IGRS to hold the single centralised prohibited-property database and a due-process route — prior notice, 30 days for objections, 14 days for legal submissions, and a reasoned order — before any fresh inclusion.
What this means for a buyer: the 22A list is changing month to month, it is held separately from the EC, and it is the IGRS list — not the EC — that decides whether your sale deed can be registered. Always check the current 22A status of the exact survey number on registration.ap.gov.in before you commit.
How LegiScore Automates EC Verification
LegiScore fetches and cross-references the EC with the records it cannot see on its own — the 22A prohibited list, revenue/assigned-land classification, CERSAI charges and court litigation against every name in the chain — and folds them into a single LegiScore Property Score (LPS). Instead of downloading an EC and hoping it is the whole story, lawyers, lenders and buyers get a clear risk picture in minutes, with the hidden-but-fatal items flagged rather than silently absent.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does a clean encumbrance certificate in Andhra Pradesh mean the title is clear? No. An AP EC lists only registered transactions for the period you request. It does not show the 22A prohibited-list flag, assigned-land status, a pending court case (lis pendens under s.52 TPA), or an equitable mortgage created by deposit of title deeds (s.58(f) TPA). A clean EC is necessary but not sufficient — run those checks separately.
Is the "EC for Information Only" good enough for a home loan? No. The free, unsigned "EC for Information Only" is fine for a first look, but banks, Sub-Registrars and courts act only on the digitally signed EC, which requires a login and a fee.
How much does an AP EC cost and how long does it take? Reported fees are ₹200 for up to 30 years and ₹500 for over 30 years; the unsigned copy is generally free. The unsigned copy is usually instant; a signed EC can take a few working days. Confirm the exact fee on registration.ap.gov.in.
What period should I request — 13 or 30 years? Banks typically require 13 years for a home loan. For full due diligence a 30-year search is recommended, because defects can hide in links older than 13 years.
My EC is Nil but I'm told the land is on the 22A list — is that possible? Yes, and it is common. The 22A flag attaches to the survey number and lives on the IGRS prohibited-property database, not on the EC. A clean EC and a 22A block can both be true at once — check the 22A list on registration.ap.gov.in directly.
What if my EC shows an old mortgage with no release? The register records the mortgage instrument, not the repayment, so a paid-off loan can remain on the EC until the release/reconveyance is itself registered. Confirm whether the charge is actually discharged (release deed, bank NOC, CERSAI) before treating it as stale.
Can I get an EC for agricultural land in AP? Yes. ECs are issued for all registered property types — agricultural, residential and commercial. But for agricultural land, also check the land classification and 22A/assigned status, which the EC does not show.