Builder Has Not Transferred the Corpus Fund to Your Society? Force the Handover

Reviewed on: 2026-06-12.

The managing committee of a 64-flat society in Thane took charge in March. Every owner had paid a corpus contribution of Rs 1.25 lakh at possession, around Rs 80 lakh in all, which the builder collected to be parked as a one-time interest-bearing fund for the society. At the handover meeting the builder gave them the keys to the clubhouse and a thin file. The corpus money was not in the society account. The builder said it was “adjusted against maintenance” and would be “settled later”. The committee did not know how much was actually collected, where it sat, or how to make the builder pay it over.

That is the standard corpus-fund dispute, and the fix is documentary. The corpus is the buyers' money, collected for the society, and the builder holds it in trust until the society is formed and conveyance happens. The committee's job is to pin down the exact figure, demand the account, and use the RERA and society registrar routes to compel the transfer. This is a builder-to-society handover problem. It has nothing to do with mutual funds or demat.

The corpus or sinking-style one-time fund is money each buyer pays, usually at possession, to give the society a financial base for major future repairs and shortfalls. It is different from monthly maintenance. The amount and purpose are normally written into the agreement for sale or the allotment letter. The promoter collects it and is expected to transfer it, often with the interest it earned, to the society or apex body once the society is registered and the property is conveyed.

Two legal levers sit behind your claim:

• The agreement for sale and RERA undertakings. The promoter's obligations to form the association, hand over accounts and execute conveyance flow from the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016 and your state rules. A registered project carries promoter commitments you can hold to.
• State society and apartment law. Once a cooperative society or apartment association is registered, the managing committee is the lawful body to receive and hold the corpus. The registrar of cooperative societies supervises the handover of funds and documents from the promoter to the committee.

Before you demand anything, know the number. Build a corpus ledger from owners' records.

1. Collect every buyer's proof of corpus payment: the receipt, the bank entry, or the demand letter that listed the corpus head. Total it.
2. Read the agreement for sale clause that sets the corpus amount per flat and what it is for. Quote the clause number in your demand.
3. List flats and amounts in a single table so the builder cannot dispute the aggregate.

A society that walks in with “you collected Rs 79.6 lakh across 62 paid flats, here is the flat-wise list” gets a very different response from one that asks vaguely for “our corpus”.

Send this from the registered society, by email and registered post, to the promoter and the project's RERA-registered entity.

To: [Promoter / Developer name and registered office]

Subject: Transfer of corpus fund and statement of account - [Society],
[Project], RERA Regn. No. [number]

Our society was registered on [date], Regn. No. [number]. As per
clause [number] of the agreement for sale, each allottee paid a
corpus contribution of Rs [amount], collected by you at possession.
The flat-wise list and payment proofs are enclosed, totalling
Rs [amount].

This fund, with interest earned, is held by you in trust for the
society. Please, within 30 days:
1. Provide a statement of the corpus collected, flat-wise, and the
   bank account where it has been held since collection.
2. Transfer the corpus with accrued interest to the society account
   [details].
3. Confirm the date of transfer in writing.

Failing transfer, the society will move the RERA Authority and the
Registrar of Cooperative Societies and claim interest for the delay.
[Authorised signatory, designation, society seal, date]

1. RERA Authority of your state. If the project is RERA-registered, file a complaint with the state RERA Authority for failure to hand over the corpus, accounts and conveyance. RERA can direct the promoter to comply and can impose interest and penalty. This is usually the strongest single forum.
2. Registrar of Cooperative Societies / Competent Authority. The registrar supervises promoter-to-society handover. A complaint can press the builder to deliver the funds, documents and accounts and can support deemed conveyance where the builder stalls.
3. Consumer commission. Non-transfer of money owed to flat owners can be a deficiency in service. The society or a group of owners can file on e-Daakhil, or call the National Consumer Helpline first. Use this where RERA does not cover the project or alongside it on advice.
4. Civil suit for accounts and recovery. For a large, contested corpus, a suit for rendition of accounts and recovery, with a lawyer, may be needed. Watch limitation.

Do not let the builder fold the corpus into a vague “final settlement” that also covers disputed maintenance, defect liability and amenities. Keep the corpus claim separate and specific. Once you sign a blanket settlement or no-dues, recovering the corpus later is far harder. Settle maintenance and defects on their own merits and insist the corpus is transferred in full as a distinct head.

A private builder is not a public authority, so you cannot RTI the developer for the corpus account. RTI helps only at the edges. The state RERA Authority and the Registrar of Cooperative Societies are public authorities: an RTI to the RERA PIO can obtain the promoter's filed project documents, quarterly updates and any orders, and an RTI to the registrar can obtain the society registration file and any handover correspondence on record. Where the land or layout approval sits with a municipal or development authority, that body is also under RTI. Use the online RTI route and your state RTI portal, and see why RTI gets rejected first.

Not unless the agreement permits it. Corpus is generally a one-time fund distinct from monthly maintenance. If the builder spent it on running costs, demand a full account and challenge the adjustment through RERA or the registrar. Keep your demand flat-wise and figure-specific.

Where the corpus was held by the builder over a period, owners commonly claim the interest that the fund earned or should have earned, in addition to the principal. The exact entitlement depends on your agreement and state law. Ask for the bank statement of the holding account so the interest can be computed.

Push to complete society registration first, since the registered committee is the lawful recipient. Meanwhile owners can jointly demand accounts. An unregistered group has weaker standing to receive the funds, so registration is the priority step.

Use the Registrar of Cooperative Societies and the consumer route, and consider a civil suit for accounts and recovery. Many older or small projects fall outside RERA; the contract and society law still bind the builder.

They are linked but separate. Deemed conveyance transfers the land and building title to the society through the competent authority when the builder fails to convey. Pursue the corpus transfer as its own demand alongside the conveyance application; do not let one wait on the other.

Not automatically. If insolvency proceedings have begun, the society may need to lodge a claim as a creditor, and corpus held in trust may be treated differently from the builder's own assets. Take legal advice quickly, because claim windows in insolvency are time-bound.

• Completion or occupancy certificate delayed
• Delayed possession compensation claim
• Apartment parking sold illegally
• All practical guides

Download the corpus fund handover checklist (PDF).