The First 30 Days After Booking a Flat: A RERA Checklist for Bengaluru Buyers

A Bengaluru buyer signs a booking form on a Saturday at a site office, transfers a token amount, and walks out with a receipt and a brochure. The next few weeks decide a great deal: how much money leaves their account before anything is registered, which documents they hold, and what they can do if the flat they were shown turns out to be different. The Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016 has a clause for each of those moments.

This guide walks through the first 30 days after booking an under-construction flat, using the sections of the Act that apply at each step.

The short answer. Section 13(1) bars a promoter from accepting more than ten per cent of the cost of the apartment as an advance or application fee without first entering into a written agreement for sale and registering it. Section 11(3) requires the promoter, at booking and when issuing the allotment letter, to make available the sanctioned plans, layout plans and specifications, and the stage-wise time schedule of completion. Section 12 gives a buyer misled by an advertisement, prospectus or model flat a right to compensation, and to withdraw with the entire investment returned with interest. The trade-off: paying more quickly can secure a unit, but every rupee above ten per cent paid before a registered agreement is money the Act says the promoter should not have accepted.

How much can a builder take before the agreement for sale?

No more than ten per cent of the cost. In the text of the Act published by the Telangana regulator, Section 13(1) says a promoter shall not accept a sum more than ten per cent of the cost of the apartment, plot or building as an advance payment or an application fee from a person without first entering into a written agreement for sale with that person and registering it under the law in force.

Section 13(2) says the agreement shall be in the prescribed form and shall specify the particulars of development, including construction, specifications, and internal and external development works, the dates and manner of payments, and the date on which possession is to be handed over, among other things. So the agreement is not a formality to be signed later. It is the document that fixes the price schedule and possession date you will rely on for years.

Our earlier explainer on the booking amount, the allotment letter and the agreement for sale covers the documents themselves in more detail.

How does the ten per cent cap work on a real price?

Take a flat priced at Rs 90 lakh. Ten per cent of that cost is Rs 9 lakh. Under Section 13(1), the total the promoter accepts as an advance payment or application fee before a written, registered agreement for sale should not go above that figure. The section covers both advance payments and application fees, so it makes sense to add a token amount, an application fee and any booking confirmation payment together when checking against Rs 9 lakh.

Now suppose the booking form asks for Rs 2 lakh as a token, Rs 1 lakh as an application fee, and a further 20 per cent of the price within 30 days, before any agreement is registered. The first two payments, Rs 3 lakh in all, sit inside the cap. A further Rs 18 lakh would take the total to Rs 21 lakh, well above Rs 9 lakh, unless the agreement for sale has been executed and registered first. That is the moment to pause, ask for the agreement, and keep the larger payment until it is registered.

The agreement itself should then carry the details Section 13(2) lists, including the payment dates, the possession date, and the rates of interest payable by the promoter to the allottee and by the allottee to the promoter in case of default. Those figures, not the booking form, are what you will hold the promoter to later.

What must the promoter show you at booking?

The plans and the schedule. Section 11(3) says the promoter, at the time of booking and issue of the allotment letter, shall be responsible to make available to the allottee the sanctioned plans, layout plans, along with specifications, approved by the competent authority, by display at the site or such other place as specified by regulations, and the stage-wise time schedule of completion of the project, including the provisions for civic infrastructure like water, sanitation and electricity.

Section 19(1) and (2) state the same thing from the buyer's side. The allottee is entitled to obtain information relating to sanctioned plans, layout plans and specifications, and to know the stage-wise time schedule of completion, including provisions for water, sanitation, electricity and other amenities agreed in the agreement for sale.

What if the flat or brochure turns out to be misleading?

The Act gives two options. Section 12 says that where any person makes an advance or a deposit on the basis of information in a notice, advertisement or prospectus, or on the basis of a model apartment, and sustains loss or damage because of an incorrect or false statement in it, the promoter shall compensate that person in the manner provided under the Act. The proviso adds that if the person affected intends to withdraw from the project, they shall be returned their entire investment along with interest at the prescribed rate and compensation.

That is why the first 30 days are the time to collect evidence. Photograph the model flat, keep the brochure and every advertisement, and save messages that describe the specifications. Section 71(1) lists Section 12 among the sections under which an adjudicating officer adjudges compensation.

Can the builder cancel my booking?

Only on the terms of the agreement. Section 11(5) says the promoter may cancel the allotment only in terms of the agreement for sale. The proviso says the allottee may approach the Authority for relief if aggrieved by a cancellation that is not in accordance with the agreement, unilateral and without sufficient cause. Read the cancellation and forfeiture clauses of your agreement carefully before you sign, because they are the terms Section 11(5) points back to. Our earlier report on cancellation of allotment under Section 11(5) explains the clause further.

What should I check in the first 30 days?

Use this list between the booking and the registration of your agreement. Each item follows a section discussed above.

1. Confirm the RERA registration number of the phase containing your flat before paying anything beyond the token.
2. Add up every amount paid so far, including application fees, and compare it with ten per cent of the cost of the flat.
3. Ask to see the sanctioned plan, layout plan and specifications, and note where they are displayed or provided.
4. Get the stage-wise completion schedule, including water, sanitation and electricity provisions, in writing.
5. Read the draft agreement for sale for the payment schedule, possession date and cancellation clauses before signing.
6. Keep the brochure, advertisements and photographs of the model flat with your booking receipt.
7. Diarise the date your agreement is registered, since the larger payments should follow it, not precede it.

If you are comparing projects in east Bengaluru, such as Sumadhura Whitefield in Kannamangala, run the same list for each shortlisted project before paying a booking amount.

What can I do if more than ten per cent was collected?

Raise it in writing first, then consider a complaint. A buyer who has paid more than ten per cent before a registered agreement can ask the promoter, in writing, to execute and register the agreement for sale without delay, and to confirm the payment schedule in it. Section 31 allows any aggrieved person to file a complaint with the Authority for a violation of the Act, and Section 61 provides for a penalty on a promoter of up to five per cent of the estimated project cost for contravening provisions other than Sections 3 and 4.

The bigger lesson is about sequence. Under the Act, the registered agreement comes before most of the money. A buyer who keeps that order in the first 30 days starts the purchase with documents that match the payments.

Frequently asked questions

How much booking amount can a builder take under RERA?

Section 13(1) of the RERA Act says a promoter shall not accept more than ten per cent of the cost of the apartment, plot or building as an advance payment or application fee without first entering into a written agreement for sale with the buyer and registering it under the law in force.

What documents must the builder show at the time of booking?

Section 11(3) says that at booking and when issuing the allotment letter, the promoter must make available the sanctioned plans, layout plans and specifications approved by the competent authority, and the stage-wise time schedule of completion, including provisions for water, sanitation and electricity.

What can I do if the model flat or brochure was misleading?

Section 12 says a person who paid an advance based on an advertisement, prospectus or model apartment and suffers loss from a false statement shall be compensated. If they choose to withdraw, they shall be returned their entire investment with interest at the prescribed rate and compensation.

Can a builder cancel my booking after I pay?

Section 11(5) says the promoter may cancel an allotment only in terms of the agreement for sale. If the cancellation is not in accordance with the agreement, is unilateral and without sufficient cause, the allottee may approach the Authority for relief under the proviso to the section.

Last updated 2026-10-25. PropNewz Team.