Messy reality of Bangladesh’s online land registration

On a humid morning in a district land office, bundles of fading paper sit beside clerks who know which signatures matter. Bangladesh is trying to replace that paper world with an online one. Under the Ministry of Land’s automation drive, services that once required repeated trips are being pushed onto digital portals, from e-mutation to online land development tax payments.

A system built to reduce visits and discretion
For ordinary citizens the immediate promise is fewer queues. The digital push emphasises reduced physical visits to assistant commissioner land offices through services such as e-mutation, e-porcha, and online tax payment. E mutation has a target processing time of 28 working days compared with a manual process that could take months. Without mutation, a buyer can hold paperwork that does not translate into recognised ownership.

Digitising records and payments limits face-to-face dependency and adds traceability through tracking numbers. That makes it harder for files to go missing and for officials to demand money simply to move an application. The Land Development Tax Act 2023 legalised electronic tax collection and aligned the tax year with the fiscal year, providing the state with another tool to track compliance.

Stronger records, stronger cases
Digitisation changes what happens when disputes reach court. The Evidence Amendment Act 2022 introduced provisions that recognise electronic material for proof, so e-porcha and online mutation orders can be used as evidence. Cleaner records can speed loans by making verification easier for banks and by reducing friction for litigants.

If Bangladesh wants online land registration to become more than a faster queue, it will need to focus on the unglamorous foundations: stable infrastructure, meaningful integration across agencies, accessible support for users with low digital literacy, and a clear, trusted pathway for correcting records when the digital version is wrong

The digital divide and the persistence of paper
The online system has visible weaknesses. Reports describe recurring server downtime with the central server sometimes inaccessible. Online applications may still trigger physical verification that requires office visits and hard copy documents. Payment systems can fail with mobile wallet fees deducted without a confirmation receipt, leaving applicants stuck. Many union offices face weak internet and electricity outages, making services unreliable.

A deeper problem is historical. Many digital records are built on older surveys, including CS, SA, and RS records. If the underlying record is wrong the digitised version can reproduce the error, forcing people into correction processes that still need manual intervention. Computers can speed distribution and also speed the spread of mistakes.

The coordination gap at the heart of the system
Land administration remains split across institutions. A deed registered at the sub-registry under the Ministry of Law may not update mutation records at the assistant commissioner land office under the Ministry of Land. That forces citizens to initiate separate procedures and persist with personal follow-up.

Digitisation reduces some forms of bribery but can shift where rent-seeking happens. Some networks resist digital tools by creating artificial delays or claiming server problems to push users back into offline dealings. A second adaptation is the rise of the digital middleman, who helps users navigate portals for a fee.

The project has disrupted a stagnant sector but not yet perfected its replacement. Filing online and receiving a tracking number is a real shift and reduces uncertainty for many. For the system to deliver more than faster queues it must invest in stable infrastructure integrate agencies provide accessible support for low digital literacy, and create clear paths to correct the record when the digital version is wrong.