Builder Delayed the Conveyance Deed: How Your Society Gets Its Title

Reviewed on: 2026-06-12.

Direct answer: Under Section 17 of the RERA Act, 2016, the builder must execute a registered conveyance deed transferring the land and building title to your society or association. Where no state law fixes a different period, this must happen within three months of the occupancy certificate. If the builder stalls, your society can send a written demand, then file a complaint with the state RERA authority. In Maharashtra, societies have a second weapon: deemed conveyance under MOFA, where the District Deputy Registrar can order conveyance without the builder's signature.

This guide covers only the conveyance deed. If your problem is that the society or association itself has not been formed yet, read builder not forming the society first, because conveyance is made in favour of a registered legal body.

Until conveyance, the land stays in the builder's name. Your society maintains the building but does not own it. That blocks redevelopment, makes it harder to raise loans for major repairs, and lets the builder keep using leftover development rights on your plot. Many societies discover the gap only ten or fifteen years later, when redevelopment talks begin. The earlier you push, the cheaper and simpler it is.

Section 17(1) of the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016 puts two duties on the promoter of a registered project:

• Execute a registered conveyance deed of each apartment in favour of the allottee, along with the undivided proportionate title in the common areas to the association of allottees.
• In the absence of any local law, carry out this conveyance within three months from the date of issue of the occupancy certificate.

The duty is the builder's, not yours. You do not have to “apply” for conveyance. You only have to be a registered society or association ready to receive it, and to pay the stamp duty and registration costs that fall on members under your agreements.

Knowing the usual excuses helps you answer them in writing:

• Unsold flats. The builder wants to keep title until the last unit sells. Unsold flats do not stop conveyance; the builder can join the deed as a member for unsold units.
• Unused FSI or TDR. The builder hopes to load extra floors later. This is the most common real reason, and exactly why you should not wait.
• Pending dues from members. Individual dues are recoverable separately. They are not a legal ground to withhold the society's title.
• “Project not complete.” If the occupancy certificate exists for your building or wing, the three-month clock under Section 17 has already started for it.

• Society or association registration certificate.
• Index II or registration receipts of members' sale agreements (as many as you can collect).
• Occupancy certificate, or completion certificate if that is what your state issues. If the builder will not share it, see getting a copy of the occupancy certificate.
• Sanctioned layout and building plan copies.
• 7/12 extract, property card or equivalent land record showing the plot and current owner.
• List of members with flat numbers and carpet areas.
• A draft conveyance deed prepared by an advocate, so the builder cannot plead “no draft was given”.

1. Written demand. The society passes a resolution and sends a dated demand by email and registered post: execute the conveyance deed within a stated period, citing Section 17 and the OC date. Attach the draft deed.
2. State RERA complaint. If the project is RERA registered and the demand is ignored, file a complaint on your state RERA portal asking for a direction to execute conveyance. Attach the demand, proof of delivery, the OC and the society registration certificate. Fees and forms vary by state.
3. Maharashtra only: deemed conveyance. Apply to the competent authority under MOFA (see below) for a unilateral conveyance order.
4. Consumer or civil route. Where RERA does not apply, for example a project completed long before 2017 outside Maharashtra, the society may consider a consumer complaint for deficiency in service or a civil suit. Take legal advice on limitation before waiting further.

Maharashtra is the one state with a tested statutory shortcut. Under Section 11 of the Maharashtra Ownership Flats Act, 1963 (MOFA), if the promoter fails to convey, the society can apply in the prescribed form (Form VII) to the competent authority, who is the District Deputy Registrar of Co-operative Societies for the district. The usual process is:

1. File Form VII with the society resolution, registration certificate, members' Index II copies, land records, sanctioned plans, OC or CC if available, and the draft deed.
2. The authority issues notice to the builder and landowners and hears both sides.
3. If satisfied, the authority issues a deemed conveyance order and certificate. The law expects disposal within six months.
4. The society then registers the deemed conveyance deed with the Sub-Registrar and applies for mutation of the property card or 7/12 extract.

Two practical points. First, deemed conveyance can proceed even if the builder never obtained an OC, which rescues many older buildings. Second, budget for stamp duty adjudication: stamp duty already paid on members' individual agreements is normally adjusted, so the society often pays only a marginal amount, but the adjudication step itself takes time.

The builder is a private party and not covered by RTI. But the records that decide your conveyance case sit with public authorities:

• Sub-Registrar's office: certified copies of Index II entries and any deeds the builder has already executed on the plot.
• Municipal corporation or planning authority: the OC date, sanctioned plans and any further development permissions sought on your plot. This exposes a builder quietly applying for extra FSI.
• District Deputy Registrar (Maharashtra): status and file notings on your deemed conveyance application if it stalls.

File through RTI online or the relevant state RTI portal. If the PIO does not reply in 30 days, use a first appeal.

Section 17 fixes the builder's duty at three months from the OC, but societies have obtained conveyance and deemed conveyance decades after completion. Do not let the builder argue delay against you; still, act early because evidence gets harder to collect.

The builder can ask for legitimate amounts under the agreements, such as stamp duty and registration costs that fall on purchasers. A lump-sum “conveyance charge” with no contractual basis can be disputed in your RERA complaint.

In Maharashtra, yes, deemed conveyance does not require an OC. Elsewhere, a RERA complaint can seek both the OC and conveyance, since both are promoter duties.

No. It is a MOFA mechanism. Other states rely on Section 17 of RERA, apartment ownership acts, and the consumer or civil route.

Usually the purchasers collectively, but duty already paid on individual flat agreements is normally adjusted on adjudication. Get the deed adjudicated before registration.

For your registered phase or wing with its own OC, no. Each registered project carries its own Section 17 duty. Put the OC date in writing and start the demand.

• Builder not forming the society: first actions
• Builder not handing over common areas
• Corpus fund and accounts not handed over
• Builder has OC but refuses handover documents
• All practical guides

Download the conveyance deed demand checklist (PDF).