Namjari (Mutation): Why It Matters and How to Apply

Mutation is the step most buyers skip. People assume that once a deed is registered, the job is done. In fact registration happens at the sub-registry office while the land record is maintained by the upazila land office — two different departments with two different processes. Without mutation, the khatian still shows the previous owner.

What goes wrong without it

• You cannot pay land development tax in your own name, so receipts stay in the seller’s name.
• A future buyer will not find your name in the record and will walk away.
• Banks will not accept the land as security.
• If the seller sells the same land again, the dispute becomes far harder to resolve.
• Your heirs face extra steps to get the record into their names.

When mutation is required

• Purchase — land acquired through a sale deed.
• Inheritance — updating the record in the heirs’ names after an owner dies.
• Heba or gift — a transfer between relatives.
• Partition or settlement deed — after co-owners divide the land.
• Court decree — where ownership is settled by judgment.
• Auction or government settlement — allotment by competent authority.

Documents needed

The list varies by application type, but generally:

• Attested copy of the deed (sale, heba, gift or partition)
• Baya (prior) deeds establishing the chain of title
• Copy of the latest survey khatian or porcha
• Up-to-date dakhila (land development tax receipt)
• National ID copy and passport photograph of the applicant
• For inheritance: succession (warish) certificate and death certificate
• Consent or partition documents from co-heirs where applicable

Applying online

1. Register on the land services portal

   Create an account on the Ministry of Land’s official portal using your national ID and mobile number.

2. Fill the mutation form

   Enter division, district, upazila, mouza, JL number, khatian and dag numbers accurately. Errors here stall the whole application.

3. Upload documents

   Scan and upload the documents above. Check that each page is fully captured and legible.

4. Pay the application fee

   Pay the court fee and notice fee online and keep the receipt.

5. Hearing and field enquiry

   The Assistant Commissioner (Land) office schedules a hearing; the union land assistant officer files a field report.

6. Approval and DCR

   On approval, pay the record correction fee and collect the DCR and the new mutation khatian.

7. Take out a new dakhila

   Pay land development tax in your own name and obtain the receipt — this is the continuing evidence of your holding.

Fees and timeline

The government fee is made up of several parts: the court fee on the application, the notice fee, the record correction fee and the khatian supply fee. Together these typically come to a little over one thousand taka. The amounts are set by government order and change from time to time, so treat the figure shown on the portal at the time of application as authoritative.

Disposal time depends on the type of application and the office. Ordinary applications have a prescribed working-day limit, but incomplete documents or an objection from a third party will extend it.

If the application is rejected

Common grounds are missing documents, mismatched dag or khatian details, a competing claim over the same land, or the land being recorded as khas or vested property. The order states the reason. Curable defects can be fixed and the application refiled; there is also a right of appeal to the higher authority within the prescribed period.

Frequently asked