GBA B to A Khata Conversion — What Changes Under Greater Bengaluru Authority

On 15 May 2025, the Greater Bengaluru Authority formally replaced the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike as Bengaluru's governing civic body. The transition was administrative — BBMP continued to process applications during the changeover period — but from September 2025, GBA became fully operational. For property owners working through a B-to-A Khata conversion, the change in the governing body has practical consequences worth understanding.

Searching for 'GBA B to A khata' is now more relevant than searching for 'BBMP B to A khata' — the portals, the notifications, and the public notices all carry GBA branding. But the underlying statutory basis, the document set, and the betterment charge framework are largely continuous with what BBMP ran before.

What GBA is — and what it replaced

The Greater Bengaluru Authority is an apex-tier body established under the Greater Bengaluru Governance Act, 2024. It oversees a three-tier structure: the Authority at the top, multiple City Corporations beneath it (the previous BBMP area is in transition toward five separate corporations), and ward committees at the base. The GBA's jurisdiction covers approximately 1,400 square kilometres — considerably larger than the old BBMP area of 712 square kilometres.

For Khata-related purposes: the revenue functions that BBMP used to perform — property tax assessment, Khata issuance, Khata transfer, and the B-to-A conversion scheme — are now administered under GBA. The BBMP website (bbmp.karnataka.gov.in) and the e-Aasthi portal remain the primary portals for these transactions as of mid-2026; the GBA corporate structure is still in transition and the ward-office functions have not all migrated to separate corporation-level administration. Current practice is to access the portal and the ARO offices through the same channels as before.

The 100-day conversion drive — what GBA launched

In May 2026, the GBA announced a 100-day 'Bhu Guarantee' drive running from May 16 to August 23, 2026. The core incentive: betterment charges — the statutory levy paid to convert a B Khata to A Khata — reduced from the standard 5% of the property's guidance value to 2%. The programme also established Saturday citizen-assistance camps at 52 venues across Bengaluru's zones, where Revenue Inspectors help applicants complete the online portal submission.

This is not the first such drive. A prior 100-day window ran in late 2025. The GBA's intent appears to be periodic accelerated windows, with the standard rate applying in between. The August 2026 deadline is the current operative window. Whether a further reduced-rate window follows after August is not known; do not structure plans around an assumed future drive.

How the application process currently works under GBA

Applications are filed on the BBMP portal at bbmp.karnataka.gov.in under the 'B to A Khata' section, or through the e-Aasthi portal using the property's ePID or PID. The portal requires Aadhaar-linked e-KYC for the applicant. Steps in the current practice:

• Log in with Aadhaar OTP. Locate the property using ward number, PID, or ePID. Confirm property details shown in the system.
• Upload the required document set — sale deed, EC, current B Khata extract, property tax receipt, DC conversion order (if applicable), building plan, and identity documents.
• Pay the ₹500 application fee online. Keep the receipt.
• A Revenue Inspector and Tax Inspector will conduct a joint document scrutiny and physical site visit. The Sakala timeline is 30 working days from a complete submission, though the current drive targets faster completion.
• After a positive inspection report, a betterment charge demand is generated. Pay the charge online within the period specified in the demand notice. Payment triggers automatic A Khata issuance in the system.
• Download the A Khata e-certificate from the portal. This is a digital certificate in the same format as other BBMP/GBA e-Khata certificates.

What GBA changed from the old BBMP process

The structural change is the governing authority. The process is largely the same. What GBA added through the 100-day drives is a reduced-rate incentive, an online payment mechanism for betterment charges (previously requiring demand-draft payment at the ward office in some zones), and a stated auto-approval mechanism for applications sitting unprocessed beyond five working days.

The auto-approval mechanism applies to unchallenged applications that have not been queried or rejected. Where the ARO has raised a defect notice, the auto-approval clock does not run. This is the same position as e-Khata applications generally under the GBA's 2026 announcement.

One substantive change worth noting: the GBA's jurisdiction extends beyond the original BBMP boundary. Properties in the expanded fringe areas — previously under CMC or town panchayat jurisdiction — are now within GBA. For such properties, the B-to-A conversion route may differ from the standard portal workflow because the BBMP database may not carry a PID for properties that were only recently absorbed. Current practice in these fringe cases requires an in-person visit to the ward office to confirm whether the property is in the GBA database and what the entry point for the application is.

Where applicants get stuck under GBA

The three most common blocks are the same as before — and one is new. Missing DC conversion order: properties on agricultural land where the underlying conversion was never done, or where it was done but the mutation was not effected in the revenue records. The GBA portal will not process these to completion. A separate DC conversion application before the Deputy Commissioner's office is required, which runs on a separate track and timeline.

Khata name mismatch: the B Khata is in the seller's name because a transfer was never done after purchase. The GBA system requires the applicant to first complete the Khata transfer to their own name. Two steps in sequence — transfer, then B-to-A conversion.

E-KYC failures: the Aadhaar name does not match the sale deed name. This must be corrected at the UIDAI level before the portal application proceeds — an affidavit does not substitute for a matching Aadhaar entry.

The new block specific to GBA: fringe-area properties that are in the expanded GBA zone but whose records were not migrated from the predecessor panchayat or CMC database. The property has no PID in the BBMP/GBA system. Without a PID, the portal application cannot be initiated. The resolution requires visiting the ward office to request a fresh PID assignment — a process that may take four to eight weeks depending on the ward.

Status tracking and escalation

Application status is trackable on the BBMP portal using the acknowledgement number generated at submission. Where the application has moved past submission but no inspection has been scheduled within 15 working days, the matter can be escalated in writing to the Revenue Officer through the ward office. If the Revenue Officer does not act within the Sakala-prescribed period, a complaint to the Sakala helpline creates a formal record.

Beyond administrative escalation, a writ petition under Article 226 before the Karnataka High Court is available where a public authority has failed its statutory duty. The High Court regularly grants orders directing BBMP/GBA to process pending applications where inaction is established. This route is appropriate only after administrative remedies have been genuinely exhausted — the court will ask.