Property transactions across Rawalpindi district have stalled for the past five days after authorities made physical inspection by patwaris and girdawars mandatory before registration, with property dealers warning that the requirement has effectively neutralised the newly launched Green Property Certificate system.
Notices displayed at registrar offices in the tehsil complex now require every property offered for sale to be physically inspected, measured and verified for boundaries, with the name of the adjoining road also recorded before registration can proceed.
Since the rule took effect, new registrations at both registrar offices have almost entirely stopped. Officials attribute the delays to patwaris and girdawars either failing to schedule inspection visits or repeatedly postponing them.
There are also allegations that inspections are cleared without any site visit for those willing to make unofficial payments, raising concerns among property dealers, stamp vendors and citizens, who have rejected the requirement outright, calling it an opening for corruption.
Munawar Khan, Secretary of the Property Dealers Union, described the mandatory inspections as unlawful and said the government introduces fresh technical hurdles to property transactions every year.
He said existing internet connectivity issues already disrupt online registration, and the new inspection rule has effectively revived the old patwari-based system despite the recent rollout of Green Property Certificates.
According to Khan, the burden falls hardest on ordinary citizens and overseas Pakistanis. He said transactions that previously took two days are now taking up to two weeks, as coordinating joint inspection visits by both the patwari and the girdawar has become increasingly difficult.
