Letters: Property pains

This refers to “Pitfalls in property sales” (December 22). It is high time the government introduced title insurance, which is prevalent abroad. Title insurance is a one-time premium policy that is issued to buyers or sellers of property. This is required to ensure that a property title is safe and conducive to any future transactions. A detailed mapping of the property is done. There is also a database of the property — for example, keeping a record of those who owned property during the last 50 years. Once the policy is issued, the insurance company guarantees the policyholder on reimbursing the loss owing to a defective title. A lot of manual work needs to be done and all land records have to be digitised throughout the country. The title insurance Bill is pending before Parliament and once it is passed, foreign insurance companies would start offering such policies in India.

K V Rao, Bangalore