Buyer wins: Builder to pay charges+Rs 5.4L interest

By Sohail Khan 24 September 2026, 10:47 am

Synopsis

Homebuyer wins as MahaRERA orders builder to pay stamp duty and registration charges and also Rs 5.4 lakh interest to homebuyer. Read this article to know why the homebuyer won the case in MahaRERA real estate tribunal.

Image for Builder promised to bear stamp duty, then refused; MahaRERA orders payment plus Rs 5.4 lakh interest to buyer — Buyer wins: Builder to pay charges+Rs 5.4L interest

When Mr Sethuraman signed the allotment letter with the builder on March 11, 2025, and forked out Rs 1.6 crore, he assumed the stamp duty and registration charges would be paid by the builder, as stated in the allotment letter. However, when the time came to sign the sale agreement, the builder backtracked and said they wouldn’t pay it.

The builder had also promised a gated township with exclusive internal roads and a recreational ground just for homebuyers. However, the reality was that the internal roads were public-access roads and the recreational ground was taken over by MSRDC, making it accessible to everyone. Sethuraman said that this caused about 33% dilution in value of his plot and so he was unhappy.

So, he filed a complaint with MahaRERA. Advocate Gauri Gabure represented Senthuraman in MahaRERA.

On August 25, 2025 Senthuraman won the case as MahaRERA ordered that the builder should pay the stamp duty and registration charges since that is mentioned in the allotment letter and also for a long delay in possession, interest compensation should be paid. (The interest calculation made by us comes to about Rs 5.4 lakh).

Also read: Rs 5.04 lakh interest compensation for homebuyer ordered by Telangana RERA as builder delayed possession and imposed Rs 30,000 debris charge

Why did the homebuyer win?

Advocate Siddharth Chandrashekhar practicing in the Bombay High Court said to ET Wealth Online: The MahaRERA tribunal held that a builder cannot contractually shift a statutory cost onto the Buyer after it has already disclosed to RERA merely by re-drafting the sale deed.

Chandrashekhar says that the allotment letter, deviation report and model agreement for sale relied upon all independently stated that the builder would bear stamp duty and registration charges, thus this is why the homebuyer won the case in MahaRERA on this aspect.

Also read: No possession of flat after 3 years of signing sale agreement: Homebuyer to get Rs 14.17 lakh refund with Rs 6.4 lakh interest; know how she won the case in TGRERA

MahaRERA discussion

Mahesh Pathak, Member, MahaRERA, heard his case.

MahaRERA found sale agreement not registered, but notarised

The MahaRERA authority noted that the record reflected that Senthuraman paid Rs 1.6 crore which included the sale consideration, maintenance security deposit and corpus fund. The sale agreement was not registered though it was notarised.

So MahaRERA ruled that Senthuraman is an allottee of the project and the builder has violated Section 13(1) of the RERA Act, 2016 since he got almost the full money yet did not register the sale agreement.

The builder argued that he wanted to execute a registered sale agreement but Senthuraman was disputing certain aspects and that was causing the delay.

Builder has to pay registration and stamp duty since allotment letter mentions it

The builder said that they mistakenly mentioned paying registration and stamp duty on homebuyers’ behalf and so would now like to withdraw this typographical error.

MahaRERA observed that as per clause 8 of the deviation report submitted by the builder and uploaded on MahaRERA website, the builder promised to bear the stamp duty and registration charges payable on the agreement and the documents executed pursuant thereto.

The model agreement for sale relied upon along with this disclosure also mentioned the same provision. But the builder’s amended proforma agreement for sale removed this clause and this MahaRERA noted that it was inconsistent with the builder’s deviation report.

So MahaRERA ruled that since the builder had agreed to bear the registration and stamp duty charges to start with, now they cannot shift the responsibility of paying these charges to the homebuyers.

MahaRERA authority observed: “The respondent (builder) is bound by its own project disclosures made before MahaRERA.”

Thus MahaREA ruled that the builder has to bear the stamp duty and registration charges as provided in its project disclosures and allotment letter.

Sethuraman can get interest for delayed possession

The builder contended that Sethuraman should not get any interest for delayed possession beyond the OC date of April 27, 2026 since he raised various disputes causing his delayed possession.

MahaRERA accepted this contention and ruled that the builder is liable to pay interest to Sethuraman from January 1, 2026 , for every month till the date of OC dated April 27, 2026, on the actual amount paid by Sethuraman for the said plot at the rate of Marginal Cost of funds based Lending Rate (MCLR) of SBI plus 2% as prescribed under the provisions of section 18 of the RERA and the Rules made thereunder.

(Our calculations: The actual plot consideration appears to be Rs 1,59,91,614. Using Rs 1,59,91,614 as the interest-bearing amount:

Rs 1,59,91,614 × 10.70% × 116/365

= approximately Rs 5,43,000)

MahaRERA orders builder to form society

MahaRERA ordered the builder to take necessary steps to form the association/society of allottees and thereafter comply with its obligations under the RERA regarding maintenance, corpus funds and conveyance deed etc as per the provisions of RERA and the relevant rules under it.