Builder Changed the Payment Schedule After Booking? What the Agreement Lets You Refuse

Reviewed on: 2026-06-12.

The short answer: a builder cannot rewrite your payment schedule on his own. The schedule in your registered agreement for sale is the only one that binds you. Section 13 of the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016 says the agreement must specify the dates and manner of payments, and Section 19(6) makes you liable to pay only “as per the agreement”. A revised demand letter, a new “company policy”, or a switch from construction-linked to time-linked instalments has no legal force unless you sign an amended agreement. You can refuse the revised demand in writing, keep paying as per the original schedule, and complain to your state RERA authority if the builder threatens cancellation or charges interest.

This decides which of two situations you are in.

You have a registered agreement. The schedule in it governs. Any change needs a registered amendment signed by both sides. Pull out the payment annexure, usually Schedule of Payments or Annexure C, and compare it line by line with the new demand.

You only have a booking form or allotment letter. Then note Section 13(1): the builder cannot accept more than 10 per cent of the cost of the flat as advance before entering into a registered agreement for sale. If he is demanding a second or third instalment without registering an agreement, that demand itself violates RERA. Put that in writing and ask him to register the agreement first. Many “revised schedule” disputes dissolve at this step because the builder is collecting money he is not yet entitled to collect.

Here is where most buyers lose money quietly. Suppose your annexure says 7 per cent of Rs 80 lakh, that is Rs 5.6 lakh, falls due “on completion of the 12th slab”. A demand letter arrives citing the 12th slab. You drive past the site and count nine slabs.

Do three things before paying.

1. Reply in writing within the demand period: “Please provide the certificate of your project architect or engineer confirming completion of the milestone, as disclosed in the quarterly progress updates filed on the RERA portal.”
2. Open the project page on your state RERA portal. Registered projects must upload quarterly progress reports, and MahaRERA also publishes Form 1 (architect's certificate) and Form 2 (engineer's certificate) with each withdrawal from the project's designated account. If the portal shows 60 per cent structural progress, a demand pegged to 85 per cent progress contradicts the builder's own filings.
3. Write to your home loan bank. Banks disburse against demand letters mechanically. A one-page letter instructing the bank to disburse only after you confirm the milestone, with the RERA progress report attached, stops the leak. You remain liable for instalments that are genuinely due, so confirm and release quickly once the certificate arrives.

This is also your shield against interest. State RERA rules fix one interest rate for both sides, usually SBI's highest MCLR plus 2 per cent. A builder cannot charge you 18 per cent under a revised schedule while owing you far less for his own delay.

Send by email and registered post. Keep it to one page.

To: [Builder name], [address]
Subject: Demand letter dated [date] for Unit [no.], [Project],
RERA Regn No. [XXXX] - payment schedule objection

1. My registered agreement for sale dated [date] sets out the payment
   schedule in Annexure [C]. The instalment now demanded does not
   match that schedule.
2. Under Section 13 and Section 19(6) of the RERA Act 2016, I am
   liable to pay only as per the registered agreement. I do not
   consent to any revised schedule.
3. Please provide, within 15 days: (a) the agreement clause under
   which this demand is raised, and (b) the architect's or engineer's
   certificate for the milestone claimed.
4. I remain ready and willing to pay every instalment that falls due
   under the registered agreement. Any cancellation threat or
   interest levy based on the revised schedule will be contested
   before the [State] Real Estate Regulatory Authority.

[Name, unit, mobile, email]

A complaint under Section 31 lies against any contravention of the Act, and demanding money contrary to the registered agreement is one. File on your state portal: MahaRERA accepts Form A online with a Rs 5,000 fee, UP RERA charges Rs 1,000 on up-rera.in, and Karnataka files through rera.karnataka.gov.in. Attach the agreement annexure, the demand letter, your reply, and the portal progress reports. Ask for a direction that demands follow the registered schedule, withdrawal of interest debits, and a restraint on cancellation of your allotment during the proceedings.

If the builder has already cancelled your booking over the disputed demand, your remedy shifts to refund territory. See builder refuses allotment cancellation refund.

RTI does not reach the builder, who is a private party. It is still useful at the edges. The planning authority's file shows whether construction approvals match the claimed progress, and a public sector bank's records of a stalled subvention scheme can be probed. For most payment schedule fights, though, the RERA portal's own public filings give you faster ammunition than an RTI cycle. If you do need municipal records, start with how to file RTI online and the state RTI portal directory.

• Paying a disputed demand “to avoid interest” without a written protest. Pay under protest in writing if you must pay.
• Ignoring demand letters entirely. Silence lets the builder build a default narrative. Always reply within the demand window.
• Letting the bank disburse on autopilot. The loan is your liability, not the builder's.
• Signing a fresh “supplementary agreement” at the builder's office without legal advice. That is how a revised schedule becomes binding.

Related reading: builder changed layout or carpet area after booking, maintenance demanded before possession, and builder has OC but refuses possession. For the wider toolkit, browse all practical guides.

No. Cost escalation does not rewrite a registered agreement. Unless your agreement has a specific, lawful escalation clause and the demand follows it exactly, you can refuse.

Not lawfully, as long as you keep paying as per the registered schedule. Cancellation for refusing an extra-contractual demand is itself a ground of complaint, and RERA authorities can restore allotments.

Not necessarily, especially if you objected in writing or paid under protest. Raise the objection now and seek adjustment of the excess against future instalments.

Negotiate a documented restructuring, signed by both sides. The builder may charge interest at the state-prescribed rate for genuine delay on your part. Note that Section 19(6) and 19(7) make you liable for agreed payments and interest, so the protection runs both ways.

Ongoing projects without completion certificates were required to register under RERA. If your project is registered, everything above applies. If it is genuinely outside RERA, your remedies lie in contract and the consumer commission.

Treat only formal demand letters as demands, but preserve the WhatsApp messages. They prove the builder is operating outside the agreement.

Download the payment schedule dispute checklist (PDF).