Lahore: The rollout of the Green Property Certificate for property transactions in Punjab has encountered implementation challenges in areas where land records have yet to be fully digitised.
The Punjab government made the certificate mandatory from July 1 for property sales, transfers and other land transactions. The system is intended to verify ownership, possession, boundaries and legal status through digital records and field verification.
During implementation, citizens, lawyers and real estate professionals reported difficulties obtaining the certificate in some areas because land records were not fully digitised. In response, the Punjab Land Records Authority (PLRA) resumed issuing computerised land record extracts in computerised revenue estates. No clear policy has been announced for non-computerised areas.
Property dealers and lawyers said incomplete or outdated records in some revenue estates were contributing to delays. Reported issues include discrepancies in land boundaries, possession records, joint ownership, inheritance matters and cases pending before courts.
PLRA Deputy Director Ali Raza Butt said around 96% of Punjab’s land records had been digitised, while the remaining 4% was still being processed due to historical and administrative complexities. He said most non-digitised revenue estates were in areas affected by ownership disputes or longstanding record deficiencies.
The deputy director said the Green Property Certificate was intended to ensure that property ownership, boundaries, possession and legal status were verified before transactions were completed. He added that where discrepancies were identified, the certificate would be issued only after the necessary corrections had been made.
Shahid Ansar Goraya, president of the Patwari Association Punjab, said the province had not conducted a comprehensive land settlement survey for 125 years. He attributed some current difficulties to data-entry errors during the digitisation process that began in 2007, as well as indivisible land records, multiple properties recorded under a single survey number and outdated boundary demarcations. He called for a province-wide resurvey, correction of land records and updated demarcation of urban boundaries.
The Green Property Certificate is part of the government’s efforts to strengthen verification of property transactions and improve land governance. Its implementation is continuing alongside the digitisation and correction of land records across the province.
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