MahaRERA: Developer Bound by Booking-Time Promise on Stamp Duty

The Maharashtra Real Estate Regulatory Authority (MahaRERA) has ruled that a real estate developer cannot shift the burden of stamp duty and registration charges to a homebuyer after initially promising to bear those costs at the time of booking. The authority directed the developer of a plotted development project near Mumbai to pay interest to a plot buyer for delayed possession, even though the agreement for sale remained unregistered.

The ruling stems from a complaint concerning a plot in Raigad. The buyer booked the plot in March 2025 and paid an aggregate amount of Rs 1,66,06,954, including plot consideration, maintenance security deposit, and corpus fund. An allotment letter dated March 11, 2025 specified possession on or before December 31, 2025. However, possession was not handed over within that period.

The dispute centered on the agreement for sale. The parties had executed a notarised but unregistered agreement for sale on March 11, 2025. The buyer argued that the subsequent draft Sale Deed did not adequately reflect the agreed amenities, maintenance arrangements, corpus fund, and other disclosures. He also objected to the draft shifting the liability for stamp duty and registration charges onto him, saying the allotment letter had stated that these charges would be borne by the developer.

The developer contended that the buyer was not entitled to any interim or ad-interim relief and that the complaint was filed to create a dispute, delay the registration process, and claim interest and penalties. The respondent argued that the complainant had not cooperated in the execution of the final Sale Deed and that, since the Deed remained unregistered, possession could not legally be handed over. The developer told MahaRERA that the provision in the Allotment Letter stating that the promoter would bear the stamp duty and registration charges was merely a typographical error, whereas the subsequently executed Agreement for Sale had placed such liability upon the purchaser.

MahaRERA rejected the developer's arguments. The authority noted that the developer's own deviation report dated January 7, 2025, uploaded on the MahaRERA website in respect of its model agreement for sale, specifically provided that the developer shall bear the stamp duty and registration charges payable on the agreement and the documents executed pursuant thereto.

"The developer cannot now contend that the similar provision mentioned in the said allotment letter was merely a typographical error and thereafter seek to execute an agreement for sale by shifting the said liability upon the buyer. The developer is bound by its own project disclosures made before," the MahaRERA order stated.

Developer's Violation of RERA Section 13

MahaRERA also addressed the developer's argument that the buyer could not be treated as an allottee because the agreement had not been registered. The authority held that the absence of registration of the agreement did not take away the buyer's status as an allottee.

The authority noted that under Section 13 of the RERA Act, a developer cannot accept more than 10% of the property cost without first entering into a written and registered agreement for sale. In this case, the developer had received almost the entire consideration despite the agreement remaining unregistered, which MahaRERA held to be a violation of the requirement under Section 13(1) of RERA.

MahaRERA directed both parties to register the agreement.

Legal Experts on the Ruling

Amitraj Kaushal, Advocate at the Supreme Court, commented on the order: "This MahaRERA order reinforces an important principle that developers cannot rewrite their commitments after the fact simply by calling them a typographical error. Once a promoter discloses in the allotment letter and project documents that it will bear stamp duty and registration charges, that becomes a binding representation, not a negotiable term to be shifted onto the buyer later."

The order underscores that project disclosures made by developers on the MahaRERA website are binding, and attempts to shift costs previously agreed to be borne by the developer will not be countenanced by the regulator.