Buying on a GPA in Bengaluru: Why It Rarely Gives You Title

A buyer was offered a plot in a fast-growing Bengaluru suburb at a price noticeably below the market, on one condition: the sale would be done on a general power of attorney rather than a registered sale deed, to save on stamp duty. At first it sounded like a genuinely smart saving. In fact it was an invitation to pay a large sum for something that would never have made him the legal owner. A GPA does not transfer title, and the discount was simply the market's way of pricing in exactly that risk, a risk that would have become his the moment he paid.

The short answer. Buying property on a general power of attorney does not make you the owner, because the Supreme Court has held that immovable property is transferred only by a registered sale deed, according to this explainer on GPA sales. The trade-off a GPA seems to offer, saving stamp duty, is illusory, because what you save in duty you lose in ownership, so insist on a registered sale deed from the recorded owner.

What is a GPA, and what does it actually do?

A general power of attorney is a document by which an owner authorises someone else to act on their behalf, which can include dealing with a property. It is, at heart, a delegation of authority, not a transfer of ownership. The person holding the GPA can do certain things for the owner, but the owner remains the owner. This is the distinction that catches buyers out, because a GPA can look, in a sale conversation, as though it hands over the property, when legally it does nothing of the sort and never has, whatever local custom may once have suggested.

The confusion has a history. For years, so-called GPA sales were used as a shortcut to move property while avoiding registration and stamp duty, and many people came to treat them as a normal way to buy. The law, however, never accepted that they transferred title, and in 2011 the Supreme Court said so in the clearest possible terms, putting an end to any argument that a GPA could stand in for a proper sale.

What did the Supreme Court actually hold?

In Suraj Lamp and Industries versus State of Haryana in 2011, the Supreme Court held that immovable property can be legally and lawfully transferred only by a registered deed of conveyance. As the source above explains, transactions of the nature of GPA sales, or agreement plus GPA plus will arrangements, do not convey title or create any interest in immovable property, and the Court treated them as violative of public policy because they evade registration and stamp duty. Later judgments have reinforced that the mere execution of such documents does not transfer right and title.

For a buyer, that ruling is decisive. It means that no matter how the paperwork is dressed up, a GPA is not a substitute for a registered sale deed, and a court will not treat you as the owner simply because you hold a GPA and possession. The only instrument that passes clear title is a registered sale deed executed by the actual owner in your favour.

Why is a GPA purchase so risky for a buyer?

Because it leaves you exposed on ownership, on revocation and on funding. On ownership, you may pay the full price and take possession yet never hold legal title, which can surface painfully when you try to sell, or when the owner or their heirs assert their rights. On revocation, a GPA can be revoked, and it can lapse on the death of the person who gave it, so the authority you relied on can simply vanish. The source above notes that even calling a power of attorney irrevocable does not necessarily make it so.

On funding, banks are generally unwilling to lend against a property held on a GPA, because the borrower's title is not clean, and a future buyer will run into the same wall when you try to sell. In short, a GPA purchase can trap your money in an asset you cannot cleanly own, fund or resell, which is close to the worst outcome a homebuyer can face.

Why do sellers push GPA sales?

There are two common reasons, and neither favours the buyer. The first is to avoid stamp duty and registration, presenting the saving as a benefit to you. The second, more worrying, is that the title itself is unclear or disputed, so a clean registered sale deed cannot easily be given, and a GPA is offered as a way around a problem the seller may not disclose. Either way, the tempting discount that often accompanies a GPA offer is not generosity, it is compensation for a risk you would be taking on, and often a risk far larger than the duty you imagine you are saving.

This is why a GPA proposal should raise your guard rather than lower it. A seller who genuinely owns a clean property can execute a registered sale deed, and a reluctance to do so is information. Understanding how a proper transfer works, from the agreement to the registered deed, helps you insist on the right route, and our guide to the sale agreement versus the sale deed sets that out.

What are the warning signs of a GPA trap?

A few signals should make a buyer stop and reconsider. The most common is a seller who proposes a GPA sale as the default, framing the avoidance of stamp duty as a favour to you rather than what it is, a route that leaves you without title. A price well below comparable properties, offered specifically because it is a GPA deal, is another, since a genuine, cleanly owned property rarely needs such a discount. Pressure to pay quickly, before you can involve a lawyer or examine the title chain, is a third.

Be especially wary where the person selling is not the recorded owner but a GPA holder acting for someone else who is hard to reach, or where the chain of ownership passes through earlier GPA transactions. Each such link is a place where title may not have passed cleanly. None of these signs is proof of fraud, but together they are a strong reason to insist on a registered sale deed from the true owner and to take legal advice before any money changes hands.

How should a buyer handle a GPA situation?

Work through this checklist so a GPA never becomes the basis on which you part with your money.

1. Insist on a registered sale deed from the recorded owner, not a GPA.
2. Treat a GPA as authorisation to act, never as proof of ownership.
3. If a GPA is involved, verify it is valid, unrevoked and the principal is alive.
4. Confirm the actual owner is willing and able to execute the sale deed.
5. Be very cautious of a deep discount offered on a GPA basis.
6. Check the title chain and the encumbrance certificate as usual.
7. Take legal advice before paying anything on a GPA transaction.

Sometimes a GPA legitimately appears in a transaction, for instance where an owner living abroad authorises a relative to sign the registered sale deed on their behalf. Even then, the sale itself is completed by a registered deed, and the GPA is only the mechanism by which the owner's signature is given. The rule to hold onto is simple: the registered deed is what transfers the property, whether you register through the Kaveri registration process yourself or through a properly authorised representative.

What is the takeaway for a Bengaluru buyer?

Never treat a GPA as a way to own property. The Supreme Court has settled that title passes only by a registered sale deed, so a GPA sale, however cheap or convenient it looks, leaves you without clear ownership and without the ability to fund or resell cleanly. If a project such as Sobha Insignia or any reputable development offers you a registered sale deed, that is the standard to expect everywhere. When someone offers a GPA instead, treat the discount as a warning rather than a windfall, and walk toward a registered deed or away from the deal altogether.

Does buying a property on a GPA give me ownership?

No. A general power of attorney is an authorisation to act on the owner's behalf, not a transfer of ownership. The Supreme Court has held that immovable property is conveyed only by a registered sale deed. So a buyer who pays on a GPA and takes possession still does not hold legal title to the property.

What did the Supreme Court say about GPA sales?

In Suraj Lamp and Industries versus State of Haryana in 2011, the Supreme Court held that GPA sales and similar arrangements do not convey title or create any interest in immovable property, and cannot substitute a registered deed of conveyance. Later judgments have reinforced that only a registered sale deed transfers title.

Why do sellers offer GPA sales?

Usually to avoid registration and stamp duty, or because the title itself is unclear or disputed and a clean registered sale deed cannot easily be given. That is precisely why a GPA offer, often at a tempting discount, should raise a buyer's guard rather than lower it. The saving on duty is small against the risk to ownership.

What is the safe alternative to a GPA sale?

Insist on a registered sale deed executed by the recorded owner in your favour, with stamp duty and registration paid. That is the only route that passes clear legal title under the Transfer of Property Act and the Registration Act. If the owner cannot or will not execute a registered deed, treat that as a serious warning.

Last updated 2026-09-21. PropNewz Team.