Builder Not Forming the Society: Your First Five Actions

Reviewed on: 2026-06-12.

Do these five things before anything else:

1. Count the booked flats. The builder's duty to form the society or association starts once a majority of allottees have booked. Make a flat-wise list of buyers with names and agreement dates.
2. Check the project's RERA registration on your state RERA portal and note the registration number. A registered project gives you a direct complaint route.
3. Send one written demand to the builder, signed by a group of buyers, asking him to start society or association formation within a stated period. Email plus registered post, keep proof.
4. Form a provisional committee of seven to ten willing buyers. Every state route, registrar or RERA, works better with an organised group than with one angry buyer.
5. Identify your state law. Cooperative society, apartment owners' association or registered society: the correct vehicle depends on your state, and it decides which registrar you will approach.

This guide covers only formation of the society or association. Once the body is registered, the next fight is title transfer, covered in builder delayed the conveyance deed.

Section 11(4)(e) of the RERA Act, 2016 makes the promoter responsible for enabling the formation of an association, society, co-operative society or federation of allottees. Where no local law fixes a period, this must be done within three months of the majority of allottees having booked their units. The duty exists for every RERA-registered project, and MahaRERA and other state authorities have passed orders directing builders to form the association and pay penalties for default.

State laws add their own timelines:

• Maharashtra: MOFA, 1963 and its rules require the promoter to submit the society registration application within four months of the minimum number of buyers taking flats. Buildings register as cooperative housing societies under the Maharashtra Co-operative Societies Act, 1960, or as condominiums under the Maharashtra Apartment Ownership Act, 1970.
• Karnataka: associations usually register under the Karnataka Societies Registration Act, 1960, with apartment buildings also covered by the Karnataka Apartment Ownership Act, 1972 through a deed of declaration.
• Uttar Pradesh: the UP Apartment Act, 2010 requires an association of apartment owners, and the promoter must hand over management once it is formed.
• Other states: most have either an apartment ownership act, a cooperative societies act, or both. The district registrar's office will confirm which applies to your building.

The single most useful fact in this dispute: in most states, buyers do not have to wait for the builder. The usual process is:

1. The provisional committee collects member forms, a list of buyers with agreement details, and copies of a few registered sale agreements as proof of the project.
2. Draft bye-laws are adopted at a general meeting of buyers, using the model bye-laws published by the state cooperative or registration department.
3. The application goes to the District Registrar or Deputy Registrar of Co-operative Societies (or the Registrar of Societies, depending on the vehicle) with the prescribed fee.
4. The registrar issues notice to the builder. If the builder does not cooperate, the registrar can still register the society. Maharashtra has a specific non-cooperation procedure where buyers of at least 51 percent of flats can apply and the registrar registers the society without the promoter's signature.

Expect the registrar's office to ask for the occupancy certificate or completion certificate. If the builder withholds it, say so in the application and obtain the record from the municipal authority instead, see how to get the OC copy.

If the project is RERA registered, file a complaint citing Section 11(4)(e):

• Relief to ask for: a direction to the promoter to form the society or association within a fixed time, and penalty under Section 61 for contravention.
• Attach: the buyers' demand letter with proof of delivery, the flat-wise buyer list showing a majority booked, and the RERA registration page.
• Costs are modest (complaint fees vary by state, typically a few thousand rupees) and orders usually come faster than civil litigation.

The RERA route and the registrar route are not alternatives. Run both: registrar for actual registration, RERA for a binding direction and penalty pressure on the builder.

Do not wait for “100 percent possession” or “project completion”. Builders use this line to delay formation for years, because once the society exists it can demand accounts, common areas and conveyance. The legal trigger is majority booking, not full occupation. Every month without a society is a month the builder controls your maintenance money without member oversight, see corpus and accounts handover.

The builder is private and outside RTI, but two public offices hold useful records:

• Registrar of Co-operative Societies / Registrar of Societies: whether the builder ever applied for registration, the status of any pending application, and file notings on objections. A sample RTI text:

To the Public Information Officer,
Office of the District Deputy Registrar of Co-operative Societies, [District]

Subject: Information on society registration for [Project name, address]

Please provide:
1. Whether any application for registration of a co-operative housing
   society / association for the above project has been received from
   the promoter [builder name]; if yes, the date and current status.
2. Certified copy of the application and list of enclosures, if filed.
3. Date-wise file movement and reasons recorded for any pendency.
4. The prescribed procedure and forms for flat purchasers to apply for
   registration where the promoter has failed to do so.

• State RERA authority: the promoter's declarations about association formation in quarterly filings for your project.

File via RTI online or your state RTI portal. A vague RTI gets rejected; keep each question tied to a record, see why RTI gets rejected.

It varies by state and vehicle. Maharashtra cooperative societies commonly need a minimum of ten members covering at least 51 percent of flats for the non-cooperation route. Check the model bye-laws and your registrar's office for the exact threshold.

No. For unsold flats the builder ordinarily joins as a member holding those units and pays their outgoings. Unsold inventory is not a ground to refuse formation.

A builder-controlled body does not discharge the Section 11(4)(e) duty in spirit. Buyers can still press for a genuine association with elected members, through the registrar and RERA.

RERA applies to registered projects. For older buildings, the state cooperative or apartment law route through the registrar remains fully available, and in Maharashtra MOFA still applies.

Registration fees are small, usually a few hundred to a few thousand rupees plus share capital per member under cooperative law. The real cost is coordination time, which is why a provisional committee matters.

Three things, in writing: handover of common areas and documents, transfer of the corpus and maintenance accounts, and execution of the conveyance deed.

• Conveyance deed delayed: RERA 3-month rule and deemed conveyance
• Maintenance transfer from builder to society
• Maintenance demanded before possession or OC
• Parking sold illegally by builder or RWA
• All practical guides

Download the society formation checklist (PDF).