A Whitefield buyer asked his builder for the layout plan of the floor he had booked and was told it was an internal document. He accepted that answer for eleven months. When the tower finally rose, the open space he had been shown in the brochure had become a parking deck, and he discovered he had a statutory right to that plan all along. Under the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016 an allottee is not a supplicant asking a builder for favours. The Act gives buyers a defined list of rights, and a matching list of duties.

The short answer. Section 19 of the Act empowers an allottee to obtain information about sanctioned plans, layout plans, and the schedule for project completion, to claim timely possession as per the agreement, and on delay to either withdraw with a full refund plus interest and compensation or stay and receive interest for every month of delay. In return, allottees must make payments on time, take possession when due, participate in forming the association, and complete registration of the conveyance deed. The trade off: these rights are real, but they are exercised through documents and written requests, not through arguments at the site office.

What information can you demand from a builder?

More than most buyers ever ask for. As the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs sets out in its official FAQs on the Real Estate Act, Section 19 empowers the allottee to obtain information regarding sanctioned plans, layout plans, and the schedule for project completion. These are not courtesies extended by a helpful sales manager. They are entitlements attached to your status as an allottee, and they apply whether or not the builder finds the request convenient.

This matters because most disputes begin as information gaps. A buyer who holds the sanctioned plan can tell whether what is being built matches what was approved. A buyer who holds the completion schedule can tell whether a delay has actually occurred or whether the date being quoted has quietly moved. Asking for these documents in writing, early, costs nothing and changes the balance of every later conversation.

What are your rights if possession is delayed?

You get a genuine choice, and it belongs to you rather than to the builder. The Ministry FAQs state that in case of any delay or breach by the promoter, the allottee has the right either to withdraw from the project and claim a full refund with interest and compensation, or to continue with the project and receive monthly interest for the period of delay.

Those two routes suit very different situations. A buyer who has lost confidence in the project, or who needs the money for another purchase, may prefer the exit. A buyer who still wants the home, especially where prices have risen since booking, may prefer to stay and be compensated for the wait. Our detailed guide to RERA Section 18 rights when possession is delayed walks through how each route works in practice.

What do you get after taking possession?

Documents, and you should insist on them. The Ministry FAQs confirm that allottees are entitled to the necessary documents and plans related to the property after taking possession. Buyers frequently take the keys, sign what is put in front of them, and never collect the paperwork that proves what they now own and how it was built.

That paperwork matters later in ways that are hard to see on handover day. It is what a future buyer's lawyer will ask for, what a bank may want for a loan against the property, and what an association needs when it takes over maintenance of the building. Collecting it while the builder is still present and cooperative is considerably easier than reconstructing it years afterwards.

Possession is also the moment that starts other clocks running. The promoter's liability for structural and other specified defects runs for five years from the date possession is handed over, as explained in our guide to RERA Section 14 plan changes and defect liability. Recording your possession date precisely, and keeping the handover documents with it, is what makes that later protection usable rather than theoretical.

What duties does the Act place on you as a buyer?

Four main ones, and ignoring them weakens your own position. The Ministry FAQs summarise the duties under Section 19 as making payments in respect of the apartment or plot, bearing liability towards interest for any delay in payment, taking responsibility to take possession, and participating in the formation of the association and the registration of the conveyance deed.

The table below sets the two halves of Section 19 side by side, because buyers who understand only the rights half tend to be surprised by the duties half at exactly the wrong moment.

Two duties deserve particular attention because buyers routinely postpone them. Taking possession when it is due protects your position, since a buyer who refuses possession without cause is in a weaker spot than one who takes it and then reports defects. And participating in the formation of the association is how residents eventually control their own building.

The payment duty carries a specific consequence that is easy to overlook. The Ministry FAQs list liability towards interest for delay in payment as a duty of the allottee, which means the interest obligation in a delayed project can run in both directions. A promoter who is late owes the buyer interest, and a buyer who is late owes the promoter interest under the terms of the agreement. Buyers who withhold an instalment as an informal protest against slow construction sometimes discover this the hard way, because withholding payment is not the remedy the Act gives them. The remedies for delay are the refund and interest routes under the Act, pursued on the record, rather than a unilateral decision to stop paying.

Where do you take a Section 19 dispute?

To an adjudicating officer with judicial experience. The Ministry FAQs state that the adjudicating officer is a quasi judicial person mandated to adjudicate on disputes arising under Sections 12, 14, 18, and 19, and shall be a person who is or has been a District Judge. Section 19 disputes therefore go before someone who has spent a career weighing evidence, which is another reason your written trail matters.

There is an important procedural point about forums. The FAQs note that the proviso to Section 71 permits a complainant to withdraw a complaint regarding matters under Sections 12, 14, 18, and 19 from the consumer forum and file it with the adjudicating officer appointed under the Act. They also state plainly that the laws of the country do not permit forum shopping, so an aggrieved person can approach only one of the two forums for disputes over the same matter.

How do you use these rights without souring the relationship?

By making requests routine, specific, and written from the beginning. A buyer who asks for the sanctioned plan in month one, alongside every other buyer doing the same, is simply exercising a normal entitlement. A buyer who asks for nothing for two years and then arrives angry looks like a problem, even when the underlying complaint is identical.

Keep the tone factual and the record complete. Reference the agreement, cite the specific document or date you are asking about, and keep copies of every reply. If you are still choosing between projects in Bengaluru, comparing how openly different developers answer these early requests is genuinely informative. You can start from our project coverage, such as our review of Prestige Eaton Park in Sarjapur, and then put the same written questions to any developer on your shortlist.

A Section 19 checklist for Bengaluru buyers

Run these seven steps across the life of your purchase.

1. Request the sanctioned plans and layout plans in writing soon after booking.
2. Ask for the schedule of project completion and save the version you were given.
3. Check the declared timeline against the possession date in your agreement.
4. Pay each instalment on schedule and keep dated proof of every payment.
5. Take possession when it is properly due, then report defects in writing.
6. Collect all documents and plans you are entitled to at handover.
7. Participate in forming the association and complete the conveyance deed registration.

None of this requires confrontation. It requires only that you treat your entitlements as entitlements, and your obligations as obligations, from the day you book rather than from the day something goes wrong.

Frequently asked questions

What documents can I demand from my builder under RERA? Section 19 empowers an allottee to obtain information regarding sanctioned plans, layout plans, and the schedule for project completion. The Ministry FAQs also confirm allottees are entitled to the necessary documents and plans related to the property after taking possession, so ask for both sets in writing.

Can I get interest if my Bengaluru flat is delayed? Yes. The Ministry FAQs state that on delay or breach by the promoter, an allottee may either withdraw and claim a full refund with interest and compensation, or continue with the project and receive monthly interest for the period of delay. The choice between the two routes is yours.

What are my duties as an allottee? Section 19 requires making payments for the apartment or plot, bearing interest liability for delayed payment, taking possession when due, and participating in the formation of the association and registration of the conveyance deed. Meeting these keeps your own position strong if a dispute arises later.

Can I complain to both RERA and a consumer forum? No. The Ministry FAQs state the laws of the country do not permit forum shopping, so you may approach only one forum for the same dispute. The proviso to Section 71 does allow withdrawing a complaint under Sections 12, 14, 18, or 19 from a consumer forum and filing it with the adjudicating officer.

Last updated 2026-07-25. PropNewz Team.