CHENNAI: Chief Minister M K Stalin on Thursday launched Sprint 1 of the Registration Department’s STAR 3.0 software project, marking a major step in the state’s push towards fully digital, paperless public services.
The initiative brings together 18 technology-driven services aimed at reducing physical visits, cutting processing time and improving transparency in property and civil registrations.
At the core of STAR 3.0 is paperless and contactless document registration, with identity verification carried out through Aadhaar-based OTPs or biometric authentication.
Once verified, documents are registered instantly, digitally signed by the Sub-Registrar and delivered to citizens online as electronic records.
According to a spokesperson for the Registration Department, a key feature is presenceless registration, allowing buyers of newly built apartments from developers and purchasers of plots in newly approved layouts to complete registration entirely online after making digital payments –without visiting Sub-Registrar offices.
If details are in order, documents are registered and returned electronically the same day.
The system also enables automatic deed creation, allowing citizens to generate deeds on their own through a structured question-and-answer format, reducing dependence on intermediaries. Generated deeds can be registered either through the paperless system or via the conventional printed route.
For payment through QR Code, in cases where the amount to be paid is less than Rs 1,000 using the existing online payment facility, an additional payment option has now been introduced. Accordingly, payment can also be made through the QR Code-based Point of Sale (POS) micro-transaction device with UPI, provided by the State Bank of India.
Property searches have been expanded through enhanced encumbrance certificate tools, allowing users to trace linked pre- and post-registration documents using a single registration number, as well as searches based on revenue district, taluk and village. Even where village jurisdictions have shifted between Sub-Registrar offices, a single encumbrance certificate will now be issued with one consolidated fee.
Public access has been widened through the TNREGINET mobile app and WhatsApp services, offering real-time updates on registration status, guideline values, property valuations, marriage and firm registrations, and appointment tokens.
In another significant change, apartment owners’ associations can now be registered fully online under the Tamil Nadu Apartment Ownership Act, without visits to district offices. Marriage records can also be searched using names and dates of birth.
The project builds on Tamil Nadu’s early adoption of registration digitisation, beginning with the STAR computerisation initiative launched in 2000.
Officials said STAR 3.0 aims to further cut delays, standardise processes and improve service monitoring through a strengthened Management Information System (MIS) for senior administrators.
The launch at the secretariat here was attended by Minister for Commercial Taxes and Registration P Moorthy; Chief Secretary N Muruganandam; Secretary, Commercial Taxes and Registration Department, Shilpa Prabhakar Satish; and Inspector General of Registration Dinesh Ponraj Oliver.
