Mangaluru: The written official order from the government regarding the temporary pullback of the mandatory use of property card for property registration arrived finally on Wednesday. As per the order, it is possible to register land without having a property card until May 15th.

Earlier, there was an order for the government making property cards mandatory for land registration from Feb 1st. Even though the rule was pulled back after sometime, no official order regarding the pullback was sent to the Revenue Department. Hence, when property owners declared that the mandatory use of property card rule had been pulled back, the Revenue Department officials simply stated that they had received no official order in this connection and hence would register the land only if it had a property card. The situation only confused the people more. He Revenue Department was right on its part since without the arrival of the new order, the previous order remained in effect.

But now, the official order from the government arrived to the department on Wednesday night and hence, properties within the city limits may be registered without property card until May 15th.

Only around 20% of the people in the city possess property card. In this backdrop, the government has postpones the rule to May 15th. There is a lack of staff for property card distribution and the concerned officials have already been informed to appoint additional staff, informed MLC Ivan D’Souza.