Changing the BESCOM Connection to Your Name After a Flat Purchase in Bangalore
Registering a sale deed makes someone the owner of a flat, yet the power account carries on in the previous name. The bills keep arriving in the old name until the new owner asks BESCOM for a change. The notes here cover why it is worth doing, the online facility opened in April 2026, the paperwork and a simple step that keeps old unpaid bills away from the new owner.
The Online Facility in Brief
Since April 2026, BESCOM's records have been connected to the e-Khata database through an arrangement with the Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA). A buyer whose mutation is approved no longer has to prove ownership separately, because the utility can see it directly. Over 5,000 owners tried it in the limited first rollout.
Approval triggers an SMS with a link and a request ID. Opening the link prompts for an OTP sent to the phone number tied to Aadhaar, after which the details of the property and its owner appear for checking. The applicant completes e-KYC through Aadhaar, e-signs the stamp paper and the indemnity bond, both digital, and pays by UPI or card.
Bills carry the new name starting with the following cycle. The aim is to finish inside ten minutes, and the facility accepts resale flats, flats taken over from builders, family transfers and inherited homes.
Price
Expect about Rs. 1,300: Rs. 100 to process the request and around Rs. 1,194 for stamp paper and paperwork. Agents used to quote above Rs. 10,000 for this, which makes them poor value for a straightforward case.
Where it does not reach
At the moment only properties inside GBA limits with an approved mutation are covered. Areas under town corporations and gram panchayats are expected later, so owners there must still visit the BESCOM office.
Check for Arrears Before Paying the Seller
Pending charges stick to the meter and not to whoever ran them up. A seller who skipped bills can leave a debt that holds up the transfer, or even the supply, until somebody pays. That somebody tends to be the buyer.
The sale agreement is the right place to guard against this. Collect the newest paid bill, ask BESCOM to confirm that nothing is owed, and make the last payment to the seller depend on it. Run the same check for water.
Reading the RR number
The RR number printed on a bill identifies one meter. Large complexes make it easy to read a neighbour's number or a shared supply by mistake, so confirm that the digits belong to the flat being bought.
The Reason to Bother
An electricity connection is an account attached to one meter, and the deposit, the bills and every request belong to whoever is named. Paying under the former owner's name means using power while someone else is the official consumer.
Trouble tends to appear later, when a higher load, a replacement meter, a disputed bill or a deposit refund is needed. All require the account holder. When the name matches the sale deed and khata, records stay consistent for the next sale.
Buying straight from the developer
The first registration of a meter in a new project is often in the builder's name. At handover, ask in whose name the meter stands and when it will pass to the buyer. Once the developer's project team has left, the delay is harder to resolve.
Documents to Assemble
Ownership and the connection are proved with much the same papers whether the request is made online or in person.
- Sale deed, registered
- The e-Khata certificate
- A recent bill that shows the RR number
- Proof of the last property tax payment
- Aadhaar, along with the phone number it is linked to
A BESCOM engineer scrutinises office applications before changing the name. The office may also want a supply agreement and an indemnity bond printed on stamp paper, and sometimes a letter from the previous owner saying they have no objection. It helps to stay in touch with the seller until the new name shows up.
Timeline and Other Connections
Property records feed the transfer, so order matters. Registration comes first and the mutation second, and only then the electricity and water changes. A request filed too early tends to stall.
Water from BWSSB is billed on its own account, which has a separate transfer and needs the same arrears check. Plenty of apartment complexes take water through one bulk connection held by the owners' association, where the flat's share and any dues must be confirmed. Gas, broadband and society records can be corrected at the same time, which completes the paperwork for a home in Bangalore.
