International Journal of Computer Theory and Engineering, Vol. 5, No.

2, April 2013

Integrated Electronic Land Adminstration System

(e-Tanah) in Malaysia
Jady@Zaidi Hassim, Hasani Mohd Ali, Rooshida Merican Abdul Rahim Merican, Zinatul A. Zainol,
Noor Inayah Yaakub, and Wan Kamal Mujani


work system and services that includes the activity of
Abstract—This article discusses two main issues on registration, dealings, disposal, development and acquisition
integrated electronic land administrative system (e-Tanah) in of land. The same review applies to the process for surveying,
Malaysia. As an integrated electronic processing of applications preparation and issuing of the land title to reduce grievances
on land matters, registration of titles, documents required to be
prepared thereby and any documents of titles through the use of
and improve the effective land management.
a computer which includes both manual and computerised Existing literatures have focussed on (a) discussing the
procedures, e-Tanah must be supported by legal provision and land administrative issues on improving land delivery system
administrative mechanism. First, from the legal point of view, (b) designing the integrating process of computerisation
e-Tanah is clearly endorsed by the main statute on land matters, system, its application and interoperability and (c) reviewing
i.e. the National Land Code 1965. Second, administratively, the National Land Code 1965 (NLC 1965) for purposes of
e-Tanah is also properly managed.
providing an enabling legal environment as a foundation to
Index Terms—Land administration, e-tanah, public delivery regulate the system. Isahak [1] identifies three key challenges
system. for the success of e-government on land administration, first,
the system, i.e. the land office must identify an efficient and
user friendly electronic tax payment method which is able to
I. INTRODUCTION generate and develop a comprehensive land information and
Malaysia is currently implementing e-Tanah (Electronic data centre. Second, lays on its technology savvy, i.e. land
Land Administration System), a comprehensive administrators must be ICT literate and are able to use
administrative system of its land office. The system uses an electronic hardware to perform their daily work. This is
integrated information and communication technology (ICT) particularly important at the service counter to ensure smooth
which accelerates data processing, services delivery and land running of the whole process. Third, the physical factor
dealings. E-Tanah is supported by statutory legal provisions, involving the structure, office design and layout, which that
i.e. the National Land Code 1965 (NLC 1965). Does e-tanah reflects the image and credibility of the land office.
protects the transparency, integrity, interoperability and The computerisation of land title and the construction of
reliability in the administration and management of land in land data banks must have several characteristics. Lang [2]
Malaysia? identified three:
Indeed, government delivery system in relation to land 1) The system has the ability to perform certain simple
management is not altogether new in Malaysia. Initially requests at extremely high speeds.
under the flagship of Multimedia Super Corridor (MSC) in 2) The system can automatically retrieve its data storages
1996, the e-government projects have adopted various and modules in simple operation.
technologies to improve the dissemination of information 3) The system is able to store vast qualities of information
and services. Between 2001-2005 (Eight Malaysian Plan), and interoperable with other independent system.
various technological programmes has been introduced, such This paper discusses the implementation of integrated
as a new land administration strategy to improve existing electronic land administrative system (e-Tanah) in Malaysia
in terms of legal support and administrative mechanism.

Manuscript received September 4, 2012; revised November 18, 2012.

This work was supported in part by Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia under
II. LAND INFORMATION SYSTEM
Grant GPP -2011-017 According to Williamson [3], land administration is a
Jady@Zaidi Hassim, Hasani Mohd Ali, and Rooshida Merican Abdul
Rahim Merican are with the Faculty of Law, Universiti Kebangsaan „processes of recording and disseminating information about
Malaysia, 43600 UKM Bangi, Malaysia (e-mail: [email protected], the tenure, value and use of the land when implementing land
[email protected], [email protected]). management policies. It is considered to include land
Zinatul A. Zainol is with the Faculty of Law, Universiti Kebangsaan
Malaysia, 43600 UKM Bangi, Malaysia. She is the head of Biodiversity and registration, cadastral surveying and mapping, fiscal, legal
Biotechnology Governance Research Group at UKM (e-mail: and multi-purpose cadastres and land information systems‟.
[email protected]).
In this process, there are three important issues, i.e. land
Noor Inayah Yaakub is with the Faculty of Economics and Management,
Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 43600 UKM Bangi, Malaysia (e-mail: ownership, land value (taxation) and use of land.
[email protected]). First, the determination of the ownership rights and its
Wan Kamal Mujani is with the Faculty of Islamic Studies, Universiti
Kebangsaan Malaysia, 43600 UKM Bangi, Malaysia (e-mail:
details are described in a computerised way to establish a user
[email protected]). friendly but systematic land management. Land management

DOI: 10.7763/IJCTE.2013.V5.695 288

 International Journal of Computer Theory and Engineering, Vol. 5, No. 2, April 2013

in Malaysia is a complex matter as the administrative powers Code. The decision making process within land
is bestowed on various governmental departments and state administration is normally fragmented due to different
offices. For example, District Land Offices and State ministries (Ministry of Finance, Agriculture, Environment
Director of Land and Mines Offices manage the etc). Foreign ownership of land is more complex involving
administration of land registry and titles, Department of political agendas and more conflicting interests. With the
Survey and Mapping is in charge of the cadastral mapping proper cooperation and upgraded e-Tanah system,
systems, and the Federal land management is within the intergovernmental coordination is possible. The
control of Federal Land Commissioner under the Department governmental agencies such as taxation, environment,
of the Director-General of Land and Mines. agriculture, forestry, urban property and housing
Second, the computerised land revenue collection system development can be easily integrated.
(CLRCS) is a system for collecting land revenue. It is
TABLE I: INTEGRATED E-TANAH
interoperable with Computerised Land Registration System
(CLRS). Its function is to register dealings and non-dealings Schedules
and e-cadastre for the preparation of certified plans in respect No First and Tenth Fourteenth
Sixteenth Schedule
Schedule Schedule
of registration of titles.
Third, land use includes developing of land into First Schedule –
agriculture, residential, commercial and industrial. By far, relevant forms
this is a sensitive issue and must be accurately recorded so (manual)
Computerised Land Electronic Land
that its indefeasibly can be guaranteed. Other examples of 1 Tenth Schedule Registration System Administration
land use include the process of issuing qualified titles and - supplementary System
final titles, automatic renewal of leases, variation of provisions and
procedure.
condition and restrictions, sub-division, partition and (manual)
amalgamation, and alienation, re-alienation and surrender.
Procedures for
All land related
registration where
III. ADMINISTERING PUBLIC DELIVERY SERVICES ON information recorded
the documents
into land database by
E-TANAH required to be
electronic technology
Forms means a printed and prepared
To ensure the success of public delivery system in land that generates, stores,
form specified by the Registrar and
2 preserves and
administration, the data and information infrastructure must relating to any entry in any
processes data in
support the economic development, environmental dealing document of title
terms of a computer
through the use of a
management and social stability. Land administration policy computer – manual
file and computerised
formats.
has shifted from command economies to market economies and computerised
and rebuilding social and governmental institutions. procedures.
The introduction of e-Tanah in Malaysia is a result of
legislation rather than technology. NLC 1965 expressly Forms shall be
supports e-Tanah. Part 1 (c) section 5D of the NLC 1965 copy or printed
No printed forms but
on plain white The computer
statutorily allows the Minister to modify the NLC 1965 so as 3 online application
paper. printed forms
to facilitate the implementation of e-Tanah.
When e-Tanah was first introduced, its primary aim was to
adopt ICT so that e-governance delivery system could be
strengthened. Online land administration (Fourteenth The Registrar shall
Schedule of NLC 1965) was implemented alongside manual maintain records
application of land registry. In 2005, e-Land Administration called „Presentation
The Registrar shall
Record‟ and
and the future i-Land system (Sixteenth Schedule of NLC A signature verify the contents
„Correction
1965) was developed expeditiously. 4 shall be in and authenticate the
Note-Book‟ to
manuscript document under his
The current e-Tanah is depicted as „an integrated hand and seal
register, endorse or
enter or reject or
electronic processing of applications on land matters, withdraw the
registration of titles, documents required to be prepared application
thereby and any documents of titles through the use of a
computer which includes both manual and computerised
When
procedures (Table I). completed, the Every computer
Every computer
The underlying legal philosophy of e-Tanah, i.e. to protect Registrar shall
printed document
document shall be
land ownership and data held electronically is achieved 5 transmit a copy stored in the land
shall be kept in loose
and shall retain database.
through the rights of access and change the entries. The law one copy for
leaf.
must also determine the balance between the rights of the record.
citizens and the responsibilities of the state. For example, the
enforcement to forfeit land under Section 100 or Section 129
of the National Land Code is debatable and vague. The Administrative mechanism of e-Tanah requires its system
decision over the land matters normally being delayed for a to consist of internal and external features. The internal
longer period of time as against the provisions stated by the feature consists of ten modules that is connected to a central

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 International Journal of Computer Theory and Engineering, Vol. 5, No. 2, April 2013

point and displayed on the official desktop for District land (CLRCS) for collecting land revenue. The computerised
Office (PTD) and State Land Office (PTG). The Single Point spatial data system also was established (e-catastre) as an
of Contact (SPOC) is the first entry where all applications by integral tool to facilitate the registration of ownership,
the end-users will be checked and initially a reference valuation and taxation, management and planning as well as
number, date and time stamp is recorded. At this juncture, statistical data capture, environmental risk assessment and
name, address and data on end-users will be captured and business planning. E-catastre integrates with e-Tanah
issued. This information is transparently accessed by the application. The combination of these two systems envisages
officers and staff of PTD and PTG. For security purposes, a highly integrated and interoperable technology.
the officers must log on before performing their official tasks. The integration of e-Tanah and other external systems is
There are five dealings modules in which applications are made possible with the availability of e-Cadastre and one
available online. The first module is on registration, which is stop payment agencies. The integration of e-Tanah and
designed to cater for registration process of title, dealings and e-cadastre enable the transmission of electronic Requisition
non-dealings on proprietor‟s land. Obviously this process for Survey (RS) and Requisition for Extract of Plan (RE). Pos
includes the transferring of application by the end-users to Malaysia, Kedai Telekom and Banks (CIMB clicks and
transfer land or share. The process is simple, just by clicking Maybank2u) are example of agencies which need to be
the „enter‟ button, the transferring process is legally done, discussed in comprehensive manner for their exact database
thus is susceptible to misappropriation and fraud. and effective integration. The e-Tanah system is able to work
Irresponsible staff may simply register, reject or suspend the and operate in conjunction with other system through the
presented transfer instrument provided consent is verified on-going process of interoperability, a process that
through Letter of Consent module. Registrar who aware the effectively links several systems or institutions.
tasks will register the application. Upon registration, new Interoperability standard in e-Tanah is also depending on
version of the title, letter or other notifications will be open technologies, thus neither government nor industry
generated by the system to be kept in the Document control the entirety of the system. The relationship between
Management System (DMS) and printed. E-consent in the land administration system and other entities is illustrated
e-Tanah is designed to produce the Letter of Consent for in the Fig. 1.
verifying transfer, charge and transfer and charge. With
e-consent, the information of the title can be retrieved faster
from portal and Title Registration module.
The second module is Land Disposal module where
application for state land through alienation and other than
alienation is designed. For land disposal, the approval of
Majlis Mesyuarat Kerajaan Negeri (MMKN) is required
before the service of notification letter to applicant and
payment of deposit. The third module applies the same
procedure as in Land Development module. The preparation
of meeting paper by MMKN for land development that
concerns partition, subdivision and conversion of land
requires the approval of authority. Both modules are subject
to authentication by digital signature.
Fourth is Land Acquisition module. The State or Federal Fig. 1. The Concept of Interoperability within e-Tanah [4].
government initiate the acquisition of particular land for
The interoperability concept applied in e-Tanah is justified
public purposes or Federal use. Although the system is able
as its complexity is to perform effective services to customers
to retrieve and obtain title information, ownership and
and businesses. The main objective is to co-ordinate and
correspondence address of the owner, the transparency of the
align the dealing process that span customers, private
process is the matter of law. The intention of land
partnership and public sector together. Needless to say, the
administrator is not sufficient by serving Form E by way of
administrative mechanism of e-Tanah is very important; it
notifying the owner or any other interested parties of his
supports good land administration and management. Not
intention to conduct hearings and enquiries online.
only it involves the implementation of land policy but routine
The last module is dedicated for strata titles where e-Tanah
operational decisions are equally important.
designs online application in respect of building or buildings
having two or more storey on alienated land. The process of
subdivision of building into parcels or subdivision of land
IV. CONCLUSION
into land parcels needs the coordination of various units in
the land office and relevant technical departments. It is The integrated e-Tanah system is equivalent to a
submitted that although the issuance of new strata titles as one-stop-shop. The NLC 1965 clearly supports its
provided by Title Registration module as a complete process implementation. Proper administrative mechanism is also in
as successful, it is difficult to identify that there is no any place. Perhaps, it is good for future study to investigate the
contrary directive by the state authority after being approved social and economic impacts of e-Tanah. For example,
by the PTG changes in leadership may cause the non-continuity of the
External features use computerised land revenue system system. The selection of organization‟ executive levels or

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intervention of political ideology may also lead to the REFERENCES

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[2] A. G. Lang, “Computerised land title and land information,” Monash
University Law Review, vol. 10, pp. 198-220, Dec 1984.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
[3] I. P. Williamson, “Land administration best practise providing the
The authors thank Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia for infrustructure for land policy implementation,” Land Use Policy, vol.
18, pp. 297-307, 2001.
supporting this research under GPP -2011-017
[4] L. C. Chong, “The e-Tanah System: Towards the modernization of the
land administration system in Malaysia,” presented at the 10th
International Surveyor's Congress, Kuala Lumpur, 26th - 27th June
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